


You'll Never Know

by Xion5



Category: Guardians of Childhood - William Joyce, Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Angst, Drama, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-29
Updated: 2014-06-15
Packaged: 2018-01-17 11:52:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 36,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1386631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xion5/pseuds/Xion5
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if I told you that Jack Frost was never really alone? Not once in 300 years. He just never knew it. This is the story of the one spirit who is truly alone. Who can't be seen by anyone, not even by the one she loves most. She has no name, and the moon has never spoken to her. She is the wind. And she is completely alone. Future JackxOC and rated T because I'm cautious.<br/>Minor use of graphic violence and gore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

You'll Never Know

Prologue

Why?

I've asked myself that question so many times.

How long has it even been this way? 300 years I guess, maybe more. I can't even remember. But that's OK, there's no point in remembering that now anyway. And it would probably only make things worse.

Besides, there's not much to remember. And it's not like anyone will remember me. They didn't even know I was there. No one ever did. But maybe it's better that way. No one will be sad when I'm gone, no one will miss me, no one will even know. And I think that's what hurts the most.

I'm going to die here, all alone… And it hurts so much.

'I'm scared… I'm scared and it hurts. I-I don't want to die. I don't want to die alone! Please… Somebody, anybody! Please help me… I don't want to die. Not here. P-please, somebody please. Please make it stop. It h- hurts, it hurts so much. Please… somebody, please save me.'

B-but is there even anything to save?

So many times I've wondered, am I even here at all? No one can see me. No one can hear me. So what am I? I'm not a spirit, I'm not human. I'm…I'm nothing.

But-but I must have been something. Right? Tooth, sh-she said so. We were all someone before we were chosen.

…But, but was I even chosen? The moon's never spoken to me. Not once. I don't think even he knows I'm here.

But it doesn't matter. No one cares. No one knows. Nothing or not, I'll be gone soon enough. A fitting end I guess. I lived every day completely alone, and now I'll die alone too. But it's probably better this way. At least the pain will go away. I won't have to be alone anymore. I won't be lost anymore.

I have so many regrets. So many things I wanted to do, to say. I-I just wanted for someone to see me. Someone - anyone to see me, anyone. Just to tell me that I was here, that I exist. That I'm not just…nothing.

I wanted to tell Pitch everything. I wanted to tell him how important he is, how important fear is, how it protects us. But that he's more than just fear. I wanted to tell him that he doesn't have to be alone. That… he's a Guardian to.

I wanted to hug Sandy. To cry and tell him how glad I was when he came back. Even if his dreams always hurt me.

I wanted to Tell Bunny about what really happened on Easter. What happened in Pitch's lire, in Antarctica, about how Jack got Jamie to believe in him, and about the blizzard of 68 too. I wanted to tell him it wasn't Jack's fault, none of it. I just wanted him to know.

I wanted to ask Tooth about my memories. If I really was someone, then she should have them, right? Then I could finally know. Who I am, who I was, why I'm here, and… why I'm so alone.

And…and Jack. There's so many things I regret. But staying with him is the only thing I don't. Even if he never knew I was there. Even if staying with him is what caused me so much pain. I don't regret it. You were the only person I had in my life. The only thing that gave me any hope, even after all this time. You were the one thing that made me feel like I wasn't just nothing. That maybe I was there. You gave me something to hope for, something to live for. And after I met you, I found something I wanted even more than just being seen. So that even if no one ever saw me, not even once, I would still know that I'm here. That I'm not just nothing.

I wanted a name.

I wanted you to give me a name. Just to tell me that I'm here, that I exist. I wanted that more than anything. So I would know that I'm not just nothing. That I'm worth something, anything at all. That I mean something. That's… that's all I ever wanted.

I-I don't think that's too much. Just a name. Just that one little thing. I-it's a-a-all I ever wanted… Just a n-name. I just w-wanted him to give me a n-name…

But it's too late now. I-I'm going to die. And no one will ever even know. No one will miss me, n-no one will even care… It h-hurts. It hurts so, so much…

… Jack. There were so many things I wanted to tell you. And now I'll never even get the chance.

Jack. I wonder if he'll still be able to fly when I'm gone… Oh well. Even if he can't, he'll be OK. I know he will. That's just the way he is. He can find happiness in anything.

A-and now he won't have to be alone anymore. He… he finally has the family he's always wanted. He has a home now. And, and that's so wonderful Jack. I-I'm s-s-so happy f-for you… so happy. A-and you have your memories now to. You finally… you finally know who you are. A-and those kids. They saw you Jack. They saw you. T-they believe in you. That's a-all you ever truly wanted. Y-you're a Guardian. And you never h-have to be alone again. I I'm so h-happy for you Jack. I'm so happy.

I-I'm even happy that you w-won't know when I'm gone. Y-you won't be sad. I never want you to be sad.

I wonder what will happen now. W-where will I go when I die? Heaven? Hell? Or will I just… disappear? I would like to believe there's a God. T-this world… It's so beautiful. And there are so many wonderful things in it. S-so many wonderful people. So I b-believe you must be there. And th-that if I'm really here, then you know. That you see me. I would lo-love to believe that. So, so much. That when I die, I won't have to be alone anymore… B-but I just don't know.

Who am I kidding? I'm alone, a-and t-t-that's never going to change. E-even hell won't w-want me. It doesn't matter anymore. Nothing dose-…

As her tears begin to freeze from the frigid cold, as the wind stills and the world goes silent, and her body slowly begins to still it's trembling. Just as the hope she has so desperately held on to all these years finally begins to fade away. A light dusting of white begins to fall from the darkened sky.

...Snow? W-why would… Jack.

Even when it's all over. Even when every piece of my hope is gone. Even when I've finally given up on everything. And even when I'm just laying here, waiting to die… You still save me.

… I have so many regrets. But the one thing I regret most… is that you'll never know. You'll never know that you weren't alone. You'll never know that there was someone who always believed in you. You'll never know that you gave me a reason to hope, to live. You'll never know how much you saved me.

But most of all. I regret that you'll never know… how much I love you.


	2. Something Missing

You'll Never Know

Something Missing

(The North Pole, three hours after the ending of the movie.)

The Guardians had many things to celebrate after the events of Easter and their fated battle. Sandy returning, protecting the children and defeating Pitch yet again, and of course, Jack Frost becoming a Guardian. After Pitch had been taken away by his own Nightmares, and Jack had taken the Guardians oath, everyone had returned to the Pole to celebrate and attain some well needed rest.

The now big five were seated in the globe room, talking and watching contently as each light returned from all around the world. Each taking great peace and joy in the fact the children were once again safe, and Pitch had been stopped. (Though some were feeling happier about this victory than others.)

Jack couldn't help but feel just a twinge of doubt and remorse about how everything ended up. I mean it was great! He was a Guardian, he finally got his memory's back, and he had believers! Kids could actually see him! For the first time in 300 years he wasn't alone. He should be happy! And he was but… it just didn't seem right somehow.

Pitch deserved what he got after everything he did. He tried to kill Sandy, and nearly killed the rest of them, kidnapped Tooth's fairy's and stole the teeth. He ruined Easter, and broke Jack's staff. He got what was coming to him… and yet it just didn't feel quite right.

Maybe it was because Jack knew how it felt to be alone. Unseen. To want someone, anyone, to just… know you're there. If Jack were being truly honest with himself, he would have to say that if he had been alone for a few more centuries, maybe even decades, if the moon hadn't chosen him as a guardian, he can't say that he wouldn't have done the same thing. And Pitch had been alone for so long, way longer than Jack. So it makes sense. It still wasn't right. But it made sense.

He had had enough. Enough of being alone in the shadows, of being hated and unseen. He must have felt like… like he didn't have another choice. No one ever gave him a choice.

Jack didn't know just how long Pitch and the Guardians had been at odds. But he knew there was more to this story than what he had already heard. But Tooth said we were all someone before we were chosen. So… that means Pitch was someone too, right? Who was he? I mean, he couldn't have always been like this. What happened to make him the Nightmare King? There was a lot more to this story that Jack didn't know. But he knew he was going to do whatever it took to figure it out.

But there was something else to. Besides the whole thing with Pitch, something else just felt… wrong. He had spent the last 300 years alone, so there was bound to be a bit of inner conflict and hesitation about being accepted, or even just being with others. But that wasn't quite it.

It started when they had first left the lake and the kids to return to the Pole. And it's been getting worse since they got back. He should be ecstatic at this point. He had friends! And believers! He wasn't alone anymore.

But then why… why did he feel more alone then ever?

He had pictured this all his life, from the day he first woke up at the pond. Having friends, having people who care about you. A home, maybe even… a family. He was a Guardian now, and he had everything he had ever wished for. But something felt wrong. Something felt like it was… missing. And it almost hurt.

"My fellow Guardians." It was North's booming voice that finally brought Jack back to reality.

"Ve have every reason to celebrate. Today ve have not only been joined by our newest Guardian, but rejoined as well with our oldest." North raised his glass motioning to both Jack and Sandy.

"And it is all thanks to you Jack. Because of your bravery, and your selfless actions, de children are safe once again, da' continue to believe as da' always have, and Pitch has been sent crawling back into de shadows vhere he belongs!"

Jack had to stop himself from visibly wincing at that. As the others cheered and clapped Jack forced a small smile, he didn't want the others to know about any of this just yet. But it was getting harder and harder to smile. Whatever this pain was, it was only getting worse. He felt like he was being crushed from the inside out.

But much to his disappointment, his struggle didn't go completely unnoticed by the others.

"Jack. Are you OK? You've been spacing out a lot since we got back. You're not hurt are you?" Tooth quickly flew over, followed by Baby Tooth who chirps in worry and perches on his shoulder.

"Jack? Is everything alright? You took quite ze fall back there in de fight." North and the others come over. Everyone in slightly concern, though Bunny does his best to just look annoyed.

"Umm. Y-yeah I'm fine. I'm just a little tired I guess."

"Seriously Frostbite? You're even more out of it then usual. What's the matter? Snowball hit ya too hard?"

Jack only smirks at that last comment. "Aww. You do care."

Now deeply concerned for their youngest member Sandy cuts off Bunny's retort by quickly creating sand images above his head. Showing a snowflake, a bed, and a thermometer.

"No, guys. Really I'm fine. I just-"

Jack's response was harshly cut off as Phil burst into the room, yelling to North in his garbled Yeti language.

"Vhat? Everyone, come quickly." North rushed out of the room fallowed by Phil. The others share a confused look before following as well.

Everyone makes their way to the Globe Room where the moon can clearly be seen. Its light shining down through the skylight towards the Guardians emblem on the floor.

"Ah! Man in Moon! What can we do for you old friend? I suspect you are here to discuss de matter vith Pitch, no?"

The moon's light didn't hesitate for even a moment as it intensified onto the seal on the ground. Everyone stepped back in shock as the seal lowered into the floor and was quickly replaced by a shimmering blue crystal. Those who knew what was going on were quick to voice their confusion. Or protests in Bunny's case.

"Vhat?!'

"B-but why would?"

"Oh you have got to be kidding me. We already have Frost! Now what?!"

Sand symbols start flying left and right at a pace that no one could even begin to understand.

"Manny. I do not understand. Ve have just defeated Pitch. And ve have Jack. Vhy would you be choosing someone now?"

"Umm hay! Anyone want to tell me what's going on? New guy, remember?" Jack was incredibly confused at this point. Why was everyone freaking out?... And why did North keep crystals in the floor?

"Manny is choosing a new Guardian…" North was just as confused as Jack. The battle was over. Why would he be choosing someone now that Pitch was gone? And if someone was truly meant to be a Guardian, then why did he not just choose them at the same time as Jack? They could have helped in the battle. Maybe Easter would not have been ruined if that were the case. None of this made any sense.

Jack just stared from the crystal, to North, and then to the moon, a slight scowl on his face. Wasn't he good enough? And Pitch was gone right? What was going on? Was Cupid going on a rampage now?

Everyone was asking very similar questions as the crystal pillar began to glow, just as it had not even three days before.

"Please not the Groundhog. Please not the Groundhog." Bunny began quietly chanting. Practically praying to whatever cosmic force could help him in this situation.

Jack couldn't help but smirk at that.

"OK. Gotta agree with the Kangaroo on this one. Phil's an ass."

"Blarghga!" The Yeti in charge of security yelled indignantly.

"Not you!" All Jack could do was laugh at the poor Yeti's circumstances.

The Guardians watched as the moon's light began to intensify and a sudden bright flash of light filled the room. The light finally faded to reveal a holographic-like photo of a young girl. A pair of large wings adorning her back.

"… Okeyyy. I give up. Who is that?" Jack was the first to voice his thoughts. Whoever this girl was he knew he had never met her. He definitely would have remembered a girl like her. Wings and all.

"I… I don't know. I've never seen a spirit like her before. Girls?" The mini fairy's all gave shrugs and a soft chirp in response to their queen. They had certainly never seen someone like her before.

Sandy just shrugged like the fairies and a question mark appeared over his head.

"I've never seen the Sheila before. Ya think she's new?"

"Dat must be the case. I have no idea who dis child is."

Everyone was now more confused than ever. Tooth, North and Sandy especally. Because of their jobs they made sure to keep track of all the world's children. Sandy knew every child by their dreams. Tooth knew of every child by name. She watched over everyone's memories after all. And she never forgot a good shiny tooth when she saw it. North was exactly the same. He knew every child on earth and whether they were naughty or nice. He had lists for that after all!

So the fact that no one had any idea who this girl was, was both strange and unsettling.

"Manny. What must ve do? None of us have ever seen this girl before. Where are ve supposed to-"

*CRACK!*

North is harshly cut off and everyone's attention is brought back to the glowing pillar. Spiderlike cracks began to form from the base of the crystal. Traveling upward as light began to pore from the cracks.

"W-what's going on-"

But just as the cracks reached the top of the crystal, the image of the girl began to change. The picture faded in and out until the girl seemed to collapse forward. Grabbing onto her chest in pain as tears began to flow from her eyes.

"Please… please help me…" A haunting voice echoed throughout the Globe Room as the crystal began to break apart, startling all the Guardians. Causing them to ready there weapons as they looked for whoever or whatever had said that.

"Who's there?!" Bunny shouted. Raising his boomerangs and preparing for any attack that may come, not taking any chances after the Easter incident - and still a little on edge from the whole 'defenseless bunny' thing.

"They sound like they're hurt." Tooth fluttered around nervously, trying to find the source of the voice as a harsh wind began to blow through the Globe Room.

The light from the cracks continued to brighten until it was almost binding. The Guardians were forced to shield their eyes as Elves and Yetis ran for cover and tried to protect the toys from the harsh winds that were now ripping through the workshop.

The light was gone as quickly as it appeared. But the Guardians were gone as well. And the crystal lay shattered on the floor.


	3. Within A Memory

You'll Never Know

Within A Memory

White. A vast expanse of pure white was the only thing Jack could see when he finally came to.

"Muughhh… OK. Did anyone get the number of the bus that hit me?" He got up slowly, rubbing his head to try and dull some of the numbing pain erupting from the back of his skull.

"Bus? I thought de reindeer had gotten loose again…" North groggily rose to his feet, not in much better condition than Jack, and shook his head. Trying to get rid of the two extra Sandy's he was currently looking at.

"Ugh. Is everyone OK? Girls? Oh! Jack! Are you OK? How are your teeth?!" Tooth wasn't nearly as frazzled as the others and was quickly back in the air, buzzing around to worry over Jack and sticking her fingers into his mouth to get a better look at his teeth, as her fairy's swarmed him to get a look too.

Baby Tooth was the only not trying to get at the poor boy's teeth and just perched on his shoulder, rolling her eyes at her sisters and mother.

"Tooth. Fingers out of mouth." North intervened before she could push him down and gave him a complete dental examination. Because God knows she would have.

"Oops! Sorry!" She quickly shot back and put her hands under her chin to restrain herself. But she couldn't help it! They were just so beautiful!

"Tooth, I'm fine. But… where are we exactly?" It was then that the others finally came to realize their current situation.

Each one looked out in every possible direction, but there was nothing. No nature, no manmade structures, only a seemingly endless land of blinding white emptiness.

The air was still and silent except any sound they created, only for it to move outward in a haunting echo before fading back into defining silence. There was no wind, no sky, no water, and no land, only them. Empty couldn't even begin to describe this place.

"What on Earth is this place?" Tooth fluttered back and forth anxiously along with her fairies, trying to find anything that wasn't just solid white.

"I think the better question is 'how did we even get here?' We were just at the bloody Pole!"

Sandy starts creating a series of sand symbols after managing to get the others attention, showing a picture of the moon, a crystal, and an angel.

"Yes. Manny vas in de process of choosing a new Guardian. But –" North was cut off as another flash of bright light erupted around them.

They were forced to jump back when a large black mass was suddenly thrown out of the light and onto the ground, groaning in pain at the sudden impact.

"Ugh. If you're going to kill me just get it over with already…"

"Pitch?!"

All of the Guardians minus Sandy screamed. North, Tooth, and Sandy each trying to decide if they should be angry or just confused by the Nightmare King's sudden appearance. Jack was just confused by the whole situation, and Bunny didn't have to decide. He was already pissed.

Pitch's eyes suddenly shot open as he got to his feet. Trying to get into a defensive position but staggering forward as he got up. Still weak from the battle and from being turned into a full course buffet when his damned nightmares turned on him. He was confused as to what those idiots were doing here, but relieved that he was no longer being trampled and devoured by his own traitorous creations.

"What the hell are you morons doing here?!"

"Us?! What about you?! Shouldn't you be at the bottom of a hole right now?!" Bunny was the first to retort. More than ready for another chance to pay the shade back for ruining Easter.

"Um. Guys? I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm a bit more interested in finding out just where 'here' is."

Jack stepped in quickly. Both attempting to avoid a blood bath and still conflicted from his earlier thoughts concerning both Pitch and the others.

Pitch only then noticed the endless amount of white that surrounded them.

"We can worry about that after I- What the hell?!" Bunny moved forward, reaching for his boomerangs to attack. Only to find that they were gone, and he immediately glared at Pitch.

"What'd you do with'em ya shadow sneaking rat?!"

"What could I possibly want with your pathetic little toys rabbit?! And in case you hadn't noticed, I arrived here after you! But if it's a fight you want then- What?!"

Pitch attempted to summon his scythe in retaliation. He may have been severely weakened but there was no way in hell he was going to go down without a fight. But he was unable to conger even a single grain of Nightmare sand.

Sandy was the first to realize what the problem was, and tried to call forth his dream sand as well. But nothing came. The sand wouldn't respond to him. He and Pitch shared a look of concerned confusion. They may be enemies but they had similar powers. Their abilities responded and acted on their will, they were practically an extension of their souls. So, both knew that if nether one could call them forth, something was very, very wrong.

Noticing the exchange and clear distress shared between the two dream wielders, North quickly stepped in.

"Sandy? Vhat is wrong old friend?"

Sandy just gives him a bewildered look. He couldn't even use dream sand to form pictures to communicate.

"You… You cannot use your dream sand?" North's eyes widened along with the rest of the Guardians. Each one showing deferent degrees of panic as the weight of this whole situation finally began to come into light.

Jack was the most concerned by far. But for more reasons than just his friends and possible enemy's (he still wasn't quite sure what he considered Pitch as) sudden loss of power. As soon as North had spoken, his heart sank. He quickly tapped his staff on the ground, trying to send out a wave of frost. But nothing came. It was then he first noticed that his hoodie had lost all of the frost and ice that normally covered it.

Jack began to internally panic. His power and his staff were the only things that had truly ever belonged to him for 300 years. They were a part of him. When Pitch had broken his staff in Antarctica it felt like he had been stabbed in the chest. It was worse than being walked through had ever felt! And now he suddenly couldn't use his powers anymore? This was just to-

"Please… please help me…"

Jack was ripped from his thoughts and back into reality along with the others, each one snapping their heads up and looking around franticly for the source of the voice. It echoed hauntingly around them as it shattered the silence of this empty world. The words held so much agony and fear within them it was enough to make even the Nightmare King cringe.

"I'm scared… I'm scared and it h-hurts…"

Everyone quickly turned to face the Boogeyman. Each person's face revealing different degrees of emotion and confusion varying from 'I'm going to kill you' to 'What the hell is going on here?'

Pitch quickly raised his hands in surrender while glaring daggers at each of them. His voice practically oozed sarcasm.

"Oh yes, because this is clearly my fault. I don't even know where the hell- !"

"I-I don't want to die. I don't want to die alone! Please… Somebody, anybody! Please help me…"

"Oh my God…" Tooth quickly covered her mouth, gasping in horror. She felt like she was going to be sick. Those words cut through her like a knife as memories of her parents being held captive and killed by the Monkey King for protecting her suddenly flashed through her mind. And she could suddenly see herself being locked in that God forsaken cage as a child. She desperately choked back a sob and barely managed to keep her tears from falling.

Bunny was nearly thrown off his feet as he suddenly found himself staring out over a burning village. The bodies of Pookas littered the ground in growing pools of blood and ash. Warriors lay in mangled heaps near there discarded and broken weapons and the echoes of distant screams filled the air. Only to disappear as they were drowned out by the cracking of the fires and the sounds of crumbling homes. Parents and elder siblings lay motionless together, still holding the bodies of their kits that they tried so desperately to protect when the fearlings attacked.

He was back on his home planet, once again looking at the carnage that remained after the last battle of his people.

Jack could practically feel his heart stop as he stared out onto the frozen lake. Two children were standing at its center as vain like slits started to appear beneath the young girl. The sound of fierce cracks that formed as the ice split open echoed over the small clearing that had been full of laughter and joy only moments earlier.

He knew where he was. He had seen this happen only hours before when he had finally gotten his memories back. He was watching his own death play out right in front of him, like some sort of sick play.

He did not regret the choice he made that day, and knew that if given the chance he would do it again. He would give his life a thousand times over if it was to protect his little sister. But that didn't stop him from nearly passing out or throwing up when he saw himself fall through the ice.

Everyone was affected in one way or another by these words that were beginning to sound more and more like some kind of malevolent curse. Each person seeing their most horrifying memories and fears play out right before them as they could only watch and try to convince themselves that what they were seeing wasn't real.

But these visions ended as abruptly as they started, leaving everyone in heaps on the ground as they slowly began to calm down and suppress the emptiness and despair that had begun to resurface in each of them.

But as each of them began to finally regain their senses they were able to realize that they were no longer surrounded by an empty white vastness.

They found themselves amongst a sea of bare trees covered in thick layers of frost and snow that replaced the white void that had been surrounding them only moments before. A light breeze moved through the air and caused the branches of the dead trees to move and scrape together in a very unsettling way. Small piles of snow fell to the ground as the wind went from a gentle breeze to a heavy gust and back again.

But despite the brittle wind and snow, none of them actually felt cold, though due to being in various states of shock and confusion none of them actually noticed this little detail.

The sky above was bright with stars that shown as clear as day and surrounded a full moon that seemed to grow in size and brightness each passing second.

"Wait a second… I know this place…" Jack knew immediately where they were. How could he not? When you live someplace for 300 years you have plenty of time to memorize every detail about it. This forest and the lake at its edge had been his home sense the day he had become Jack Frost.

"This is… Burgess Forest."

"What?! How the bloody hell did we end up here?!" While everyone else was dealing with varying degrees of confusion and concern, Bunny was just plain pissed. Pitch was too, but the migraine that was beginning to resurface in the back of his skull kept him from voicing his complaints.

"Where did all of this snow come from? It wasn't nearly this deep when we left and I didn't make it. And… wasn't it morning when we left?! That was just a few hours ago!"

Baby Tooth flittered around patiently with her sisters as the Guardians and the Nightmare King each attempted to piece together just what in the hell was going on. But a sudden beam of light in the corner of her vision brought her attention away from the group.

The small light flitted around back and forth as if calling her forward, wanting her to follow it. The mini fairy looked quickly to her sisters and the others who hadn't seemed to have noticed the light, before turning back to see that other beams of light had joined the first one.

She knew that she should stay with the others but she was just too curious about these little dancing lights to simply ignore them. She fluttered closer to them only for them to pull backward away from her. OK. Now she knew they were trying to take her somewhere.

She quickly followed them into the forest after looking back to make sure her mother hadn't noticed her absence. They lead her to the edge of a small clearing where thousands of other lights were shining down from the moon, making the snow shine like thousands of diamonds. The lights suddenly began to gather on a small mound of snow at the heart of the clearing.

Baby Tooth's eyes widened in shock and disbelief at what happened next, and she flew back to her mother and sisters as fast as her wings could carry her.

Tooth was flitting about, trying to remain calm while the others (Mainly Bunny, North, and Pitch) had begun to argue about what should be done next. Jack and Sandy were standing off to the side trying to avoid the blood bath that was about three seconds away from breaking out.

Baby Tooth suddenly shot out of the tree line in a panic. Giving off high chirps and squeaks as she tried to explain what she had just seen to her mother and sisters.

"What?! Baby Tooth, Baby Tooth slow down, I can barely understand you!" The high chirps and clear distress of the small fairy were enough to gain Jack's and Sandy's attention. However, the Easter Bunny, Santa Clause and the Boogeyman were still too busy bickering like idiots to take any notice.

"There's a… The moon is doing what?!" Tooth practically screamed when Baby Tooth had finally calmed down enough to explain the situation using full sentences.

That was enough to finally get the attention of the rest of the group.

"Oh dear God what now?!" Pitch practically hissed when he finally noticed the luminous orb hanging just above them.

"Ah rack off Boogeyman! Ya got no right to complain!"

"Will you both shut up for ten seconds?!" Everyone stared at the tooth fairy in shock at her outburst and Jack even backed up a few steps. She may be sweet and just overly hyper most of the time but you do NOT want to piss Tooth off. Your libel to lose a few adult teeth if you do, just ask Pitch.

The queen of the tooth fairy armies didn't notice there dumbfounded looks however as she had turned her attention to her mini self, trying to understand her message as she began to speak in a more rapped and panicked matter.

"Manny is… choosing a new spirit?"

"What?!" Everyone's eyes widened as they all voiced their confusion in unison, leading to yet another glaring match between the Easter Bunny and the Nightmare King. Causing Sandy to just roll his eyes and North to start massaging his temples to try and numb the headache that was about five seconds away from developing into a full on migraine. It was taking a substantial amount of willpower not to run both the Boogeyman and the Pooka through with his sabers.

Ignoring the rest of them Jack quickly went to stand next to Tooth in front of the little mini fairy. Upon seeing Jack, Baby Tooth quickly grabbed onto the sleeve of his hoodie and began pulling him towards where the moonbeams had taken her. Her high chirps once again got the attention of the others and put Pitch and Bunny's little stair down on hold.

The Guardians all shared a look and began to walk towards where the little fairy was trying to go. Pitch however immediately objected and turned the other way to leave.

"Oh no! You fools can do whatever you want but I am done! I refuse to take part in whatever the hell is-" He made it about ten steps away from the others when he was immediately cut off when something with the force equivalent to that of a decently sized truck sent him sprawling back onto the ground.

Pitch moaned as the others just stared on, completely dumbfounded.

"What- What in the seven hells?!" Pitch gasped and choked out as he shakily got back on his feet. He tried to walk forward again only to be knocked back even harder, this time sending him flying through a tree.

Tooth covered her mouth in a gasp and everyone else was just gaping at what they had just seen. Because Pitch had just been sent flying THROUGH a tree. But it didn't break. In fact it looked like he hadn't even touched it. But that was because he hadn't.

Sandy quickly floated to another nearby tree and went to touch it. But the second his hand came into contact with the rough bark it just went right through it. As if the tree wasn't even there at all.

Bunny and North both tried this as well with a few more trees and rocks. Pitch was finally coming to just in time to see all of this and stared in astonishment as he quickly noticed that none of them had left even a single footprint in the snow.

"Oh my God…This- this is…" Everyone looked back at Tooth and her small group of fairies who could have been mistaken for statues at this point had their wings been as still as the rest of them.

"Tooth. Do you know vhat dis place is?" North put a comforting hand on her shoulder as she slowly fluttered to stand on the ground and her face began to take on a look of absolute confusion.

"This… This is a memory."


	4. Whispers of Hate

You'll Never Know

Whispers of Hate

"This… This is a memory."

The remaining Guardians and Nightmare King looked at the queen of the tooth fairies like she had just declared the moon was made of cheese, each one's expression marrying different degrees of shock and confusion as they tried to process what they had just heard.

Everyone stood still for several minutes as they looked at the fairy with wide, unblinking eyes until Jack was finally able to break out of shock long enough to form a coherent sentence.

"Haha! Nice one Tooth. You had us going for a second there!" Jack ran a hand through his hair while trying and failing to force out a laugh as the others gazes quickly snapped to him. He tightened his grip on his staff, feeling incredibly uncomfortable that everyone was now focusing on him.

"Um. T-this is a joke… Right?" Ha asked tentatively, bringing everyone's attention back to the tooth fairy. But she looked just as stunned as the rest of them did, her eyes were downcast and her face morphed into a look of confusion and concern.

She slowly shook her head back and forth as she looked back up to meet the stares of her fellow Guardians and the Boogeyman.

"No. This isn't a joke… We really are in someone's memories."

The tense and awkward silence returned as the others gave one another brief glances before looking about the clearing.

"That's why we can't touch anything, why we can't separate from each other. We can only go as far as the memory extends. Beyond that there's just… nothing."

That little bit of information practically slapped Pitch upside the head and he immediately protested. "Wait a second, are you trying to tell me we're just stuck here?! Oh you have got to be joking!" Pitch shouted, interjecting for the first time into the conversation.

North ignored the shade as he placed a comforting hand on the fairy's shoulder and addressed the others, interrupting Nightmare King's little rant before it could fully take off.

"If dis is a memory den Tooth vould know. If she says ve are in a memory den ve are in a memory."

"OK. But then whose memory is it?" Bunny had finally decided to give his input while at the same time was still debating whether or not to strangle the Boogeyman.

"This place is Burgess Forest so… does that mean we're in my memories?" Everyone looked to Jack who was still clutching onto his staff tightly, internally freaking out at the thought of the others seeing his past and causing Pitch to smirk at the sudden spike of fear he was feeling.

Tooth shook her head slowly as if debating on something before looking back to the others. "No. I… I don't think this memory belongs to any of us. But if that's the case then this is-!" She cut herself off as her eyes suddenly became wide with panic and her mini fairies started to chirp loudly. "This is bad. We have to get out of here now. We shouldn't be here!"

"Your damn right you shouldn't be here."

Everyone was startled by the sudden voice and immediately took on defensive positions. None of them had their weapons except for Jack's staff, though without his powers it might as well have been a tree branch. But that didn't mean they were going to go down without one hell of a fight first.

Everyone looked around for the source of the unknown voice in the forest around them, but everything seemed as silent as when they had first arrived, there nothing to be seen but shadows and trees.

"Who's there?! Come out 'ere and show yourself!" Bunny hollered into the darkness as he searched franticly for the voice's owner, preparing for a sudden attack that could strike at any moment.

"I don't have to do anything you say, you overgrown rat! You're the ones who are trespassing here." The mysterious voice called from the shadows. And though it was strange, sounding like a whispering echo moving on the unseen winds of the forest, it was clear that the voice belonged to a girl. Bunny gave a low and dangerous growl as he tried to pinpoint just where the voice was coming from. He was about to retort when North grabbed his shoulder and spoke before his angry friend could get the chance, simultaneously sending him a look that clearly told him to shut up.

"Please my friend. Ve did not come here in de hopes of trespassing, nor do ve vish to fight. Ve mean you no disrespect or harm." North spoke slowly but confidently towards the darkness, having absolutely no desire to fight against an unknown opponent if it could be helped. Not merely for the fact that they had absolutely no idea what they were up against and because they had no powers and weapons at their disposal, but also because they were in the company of the Nightmare King. He was unpredictable and could take the chance to attack them as well if he wished, powers or no powers.

"Ha! No harm? No disrespect?! You people just being here is harmful! You just having the gall to step foot into this place is disrespectful! Now get out of here. Or you will pay dearly."

"If you think I'm going to take orders from the likes of some-"

"Pitch! Now is so not the time for your incessant monologuing!" Tooth cut the Boogeyman off and Jack, Bunny and Sandy had to hold back a snigger as Pitch glared daggers at each of them.

North stepped forward to again address the voice of whoever or whatever was hiding in the darkness.

" Ve vish very much to leave, epically if it will prevent a fight. But ve do not know how ve all came to be here in de first place. Nor do ve know how to leave. If you could just tell us de vay ve vill-" North isn't able to finish his thought as Toothiana quickly slaps a hand over his mouth.

The Guardian of wonder stares in shock at her along with the others but she doesn't care. She needed to get them all out of here before it was too late!

"Yes, of course! We'll leave as quickly as we can! It was never our intention to come here and we are all truly sorry for any trouble we might have caused by being here." Tooth was barely able to keep her voice calm and even, doing everything in her power to keep her rising panic from showing, but her struggle was not hidden from the others. They were able to tell that something was wrong but only Pitch was able to see just how anxious the fairy was, and he looked at her in confusion when he sensed her growing fear.

All of the Guardians moved closer to Tooth when she had finished speaking, clearly seeing that something was very wrong with this situation. Tooth was one of the kindest people you could ever meet but she was by no means weak. She was the queen of the tooth fairy armies and a descendent of some of the greatest warrior woman in history. So the fact that she was clearly nervous about this situation did not sit well at all with the others.

Sandy placed a comforting hand on Tooth's arm but the second he touched her the voice from the shadows practically hissed. Seeming to just now be taking notice of him and speaking in a tone that held nothing in it but malice and hate.

"You! How dare you have the audacity to show your face here! Haven't you hurt her enough?!"

Sandy's eyes were wide as he flinched back from the sheer amount of venom the voice had. It pierced his heart like a knife as his mind scrambled desperately to try and understand what the girl was talking about.

The Guardians and Boogeyman just stared, frozen in shock before Jack nearly screamed at the shadows.

"HAY! You have no right to say that about Sandy! He's one of the kindest people you could ever meet and hasn't done anything to hurt anybody! How could you say something like that?!"

He glared toward the shadows in anger before he finally realized what he had just done. A thin layer of frost covered his cheeks that had turned a slight purple when he felt everybody's eyes on him.

Sandy was still in shock and hurt from what that girl had said to him, but he couldn't help but smile gratefully at the newest Guardian for standing up for him like that. Unlike the other Guardians he had actually interacted with Jack, and not in a violent way like Bunny. They had talked, well, Jack had talked to him a bit over the years and while he didn't have much time to be able to socialize with the winter spirit he always made sure to give him a smile and wave whenever he saw him. Also making sure to give the boy good dreams whenever he could.

He had caught Jack playing with his dream sand on a number of occasions and it always made him so happy to see just how much joy it brought to the younger spirit. Jack tried to act strong and impassive to things that would hurt anyone else, and he was quite good at it. But when he played with the dream sand and those kids from Burgess he had looked so innocent, so happy. And all of the Guardians were able to see who Jack really was. He may have been 300 years old but Jack was still just a child.

All of the Guardians had come to realize this over the past few days and it left each of them with a growing feeling of guilt in their chests.

Jack was a child. An immortal child but still. And they were supposed to be the Guardians of children! How could they have left him alone for 300 years? Did not one of them have even a moment where they could take a break from their duties and just talk to the boy?

North had seen him a few times over the years on his rounds. The boy had been making a light snowfall and North was actually rather grateful that he was giving the children a white Christmas, though keeping it light enough so as not to give him any trouble with a blizzard. But he hadn't spared even a moment to thank the boy. He had been too focused on his job to give the young man even a moment of his time.

Tooth had heard her fairy's talk about a young winter spirit many times over the years, and she swooned at the image the girls would give her about his flawless white teeth. She had been very curious about him from the moment one of her girls had first mentioned there was a new spirit chosen by the moon. She had actually wanted to meet him… so why didn't she? She couldn't have left one of her girls in charge for a few hours to simply go and introduce herself? Just to go and say hello? She had 300 years' worth of time to do that. But she hadn't even bothered.

Bunny and Jack hadn't actually gotten off on the wrong foot, there introduction was rather brief and not necessarily bad. If anything it was just irritating if Bunny took the time to think about it. He had been out hiding his googies the night before Easter and had run into the little icicle near one of the small colonies up in Northern America when he had seen the kid with one of the eggs. At first he thought it was just some human kid that was too impatient for the egg hunts the in the morning, but he quickly realized that the kid wasn't a normal human. He actually smelled like winter and he practically radiated cold. As if his hair wasn't enough of a giveaway.

Bunny had been slightly shocked when the kid asked if he could actually see him. That right there should have made him stop and think. But no. He had been too busy and too tired to deal with some newbie winter spirit and had just pushed the shock out of his mind. He told the kid that he wasn't supposed to be there. That it was spring and time for him to leave. He'd forgive him this time for the snow that was still on the ground but that was it.

The kid had tried to talk to him more but he had turned away and left through his tunnels to finish hiding his googies. He hadn't even listened to what he tried to tell him, and he hadn't really thought about the kid after that until the 68 fiasco where he was ready to rip the little ice brat to pieces.

When Manny had announced that Jack was to be the next Guardian he had been the first to protest. And with everything that happened at Easter he once again found himself nearly beating the kid senseless when he though he had betrayed them. But the kid came back. Despite everything, he came back and saved them. Jack had kept the last light believing in them even though they had treated him like a traitor.

Jack was just as much of a Guardian as any of them, and they should have seen that sooner, 300 years sooner. It pained all of them to know that if MIM hadn't have made Jack a Guardian they probably never would have even thought to talk to the kid. All of them felt horrible about it. And each one had made the silent promise to somehow find a way to make it up to the boy. You couldn't fix 300 years of abandonment and they knew that. But, they could see to it that it never happened again.

And here was just more proof of how much of a Guardian Jack really was. He was standing up for Sandy without a moment's hesitation despite everything, and it made them feel all the more grateful for MIM's choice.

Everyone was brought out of there various thoughts and back to the situation at hand when a soft, sarcastic chuckle echoed through the trees. Every one of the Guardians felt a cold shudder go down there spine at the eerie laughter and though he would never admit it, Pitch also felt slightly nervous about what he was hearing.

"No… right?... Nothing to hurt anyone? …What the hell would you know about it?!"

The voice started out quiet and meek, only seeming to build in volume and rage with every word it spoke until it was practically screaming at them.

"You have no idea what he has put her through! How much pain he has caused her! How much pain you all have caused her! You can't even begin to imagine what she has had to suffer! And you are the one who has no right to speak here Jack! Because you have hurt her more than anyone!"

Everyone had frozen with what the girl said last, their eyes all going straight to the Guardian of fun as he stared into the darkness with wide, unblinking eyes.

Jack had felt his heart practically stop when she said his name, his mind scrambling just as Sandy's was moments ago to try and figure out what she was talking about. Thousands of questions raced through his mind so fast that he could hardly understand them. But the main one echoed through his mind as clearly as the eerie voice echoed throughout the trees. How did she know his name?

"H-how do you-"

"How do I know you? Oh you'd be quite surprised by just how much I know you Jack. After all… 300 years is quite a lot of time to get to know someone."

Jack whipped around when heard the voice directly behind him, and his jaw dropped at what he saw. He was quickly joined by his fellow Guardians and the Nightmare King. Each of the Guardians felt their eyes widen in shock at the girl who stood before them.

Standing on the top branch one of the tall, bare trees, and staring down at each of them with a look of the purest hate and disdain any of them could ever imagine, was the winged girl from the Guardian crystal.


	6. Echoing Screams

You'll Never Know

Echoing Screams

Bunny had only a moment to look down when he felt something hot begin to soak into his gray fur. That one moment was just enough time to see the stream of red that was slowly oozing from between the girl's blood stained fingertips that were held against her abdomen.

Before the girl was suddenly thrown off of him like a weightless ragdoll.

A deafening, ear piercing scream echoed and resounded throughout the forest like the shriek of a possessed banshee. Halting the howling wind and its ferocious gales, dropping the debris of rocks and broken branches to the forest floor as time itself seemed to freeze in place.

All present to hear the screams of agony that rippled through the still air felt a cold shudder rack their bodies as they whipped their heads up to see the winged girl thrown off the Guardian of hope. Even the Nightmare King couldn't help the involuntary twinge of fear grab at his heart with its blackened claws as the screams that sounded more animalistic then human rippled through the otherwise silent night.

The Guardians and the Boogeyman watched in horror as the girl was sent into the air, then gasped as her body was thrown to the ground with a violent thud that shook the forest floor. She lay motionless.

Absolutely no one knew what to do; they stood there, frozen in place like marble statues for what felt like ages. Each person desperately tried to understand what they had just seen happen. None of them, save Tooth, had any prior experience with memories and thus had absolutely no clue what was going on, apart from the obvious. Something was hurting this girl, badly.

Bunny was the first to slightly recover and managed to do something other than just stare at the girl whose body was trembling on the ground in front of them.

He slowly looked down at his chest, where the girl who was now lying in a shuddering heap had been only seconds before as she pinned him down and choked the air out of his lungs. He raised his paw to touch the fur just above where his heart was trying to rip its way out of his chest before looking at it in horror.

All he could do was shudder as dark red blood seeped into his fur, staining it an almost black color that he had seen so much of on the day of his people's last battle. Memories of pain and death raced back to him as the now cold liquid finally reached the skin beneath his fur. How long had it been since he had washed blood from his fur? Decades? Millennium? He couldn't even remember, and he truly didn't know whether to be grateful or terrified that this blood did not belong to him.

Movement brought Bunnymund out of his thoughts and back to the situation at hand as his eyes snapped back to the girl on the ground who was struggling to stand. Slowly lifting herself off of the hard ground that was now stained an almost black red. Her body trembled with the effort and fresh blood continued to seep out from the massive gash in her stomach as she choked and gasped for air.

The other Guardians, who were still in shock but not enough so that they weren't about to help a hurt child, were about to move forward but before anyone had so much as a chance to blink the girl was picked up again by the unseen force which slammed into her bleeding stomach like a fist. Another shriek of agony filled the air and her body lurching forward in pain as she coughed up drops of vibrant scarlet that tainted the pure white snow.

This happened again, and again, and again! Repeatedly her body lurched and was thrown around in the air like a puppet in a whirlwind, then slammed into ground and yanked up again as she tried desperately to catch herself, screaming and crying out in pain with every invisible hit her body seemed to take as the wind whirled around them like a tornado.

"We have to do something!" Jack yelled over the wind and screams of the girl, anguish tainting his voice.

The others knew he was right, but what could they do? Tooth might be able to fly up to her and snatch her from whatever invisible enemy assaulted her, but she was being thrown around too fast for that. There couldn't see whatever was hurting her, therefore they could not fight it and so were simply forced to stand and watch, wishing they could do something, anything to make this torture stop! They watched for what seemed like an eternity as the winged girl struggled to fight an enemy that could not be seen nor heard except for when it made contact with her already bruised and bleeding body. Each of them, even Pitch, cursing themselves for their inability to do something.

Even if he gave children nightmares, he still didn't like seeing them physically hurt and seeing this... this massacre was almost too much for him. He watched as the girl took another hit to the side, then than another to the leg, blood pouring from every gash and slit in her skin. Her body was raw with bruises and cuts and it didn't seem that she even had her eyes open. He didn't blame her.

All he could do was watch as she was thrown around like child's toy and try to suppress the rising terror from the Guardians that would have brought him to his knees if she weren't already on the ground. Not even being able to fully register that despite what was happening to the girl he could still sense not an ounce of fear from her as her body was thrown to the harsh ground repeatedly.

After an assault that would've killed an army, one hit finally ended the merciless beating. However, it was no doubt the strongest blow she had taken thus far.

Something with the force and power of a raging bull slammed into her chest, sending her flying back and not even giving her enough time to scream before her body was harshly thrown into a tree. A sickening crack that filled the clearing was like the last note in a horrifying orchestra as the back of her skull hit the hard trunk and her body fell to the hard ground below.

Her body lay motionless in the cold snow as silence once again replaced the screams of agony that had filled the forest only seconds before, only the slight, forced rise and fall of the girl's chest giving the others any sort of indication that she was still alive.

High above the forest, the soft light of the memory's moon came out from behind the clouds that had shrouded the girl in darkness for almost the entire amount of time the Guardians had been aware of her existence. When it did, everyone present gasped as they stared in shock at the girl before them. The moonlight revealed just what kind of state the girl was truly in.

Before the girl had been shrouded in the shadows of the trees, too far away from them, or being thrown around to fast to really be able to see her well before this moment, but now the moon's light shown down on her like a spotlight, the snow reflecting the glowing beams and illuminating the girls still form, and they saw. No matter how much they wished they hadn't.

Before they had all been able to clearly see that she was pail, but it was nothing like this. Her skin was a horridly, sickly white that one would normally expect to see on a corps, and not a recently deceased one ether. Cuts and small gashes littered her shaking body, though they were not bleeding and were clearly not caused by whatever had just sliced into her like a slab of meat and beat her to a bloody pulp. They had to have been there for much longer along with several dark bruises along her arms and legs.

Her white dress wasn't as white as they had originally thought. Aside from the growing stain of hot crimson on the front that was slowly melting the fresh snow, it was covered in layers dirt and dust. The bottom was ripped and shredded to ribbons that climbed up the dress and it became clear why it looked like only her crossed arms were holding it up before. It was because they pretty much were.

And her wings…

"Oh my God," Tooth breathed when she saw the broken, bloody and dull gray feathers that clung to the girl's back.

Falling loose from the tight fold she had held them in against her back, what were supposed to be a pair of beautiful, gleaming snow white dove's wings now lay limp behind her in the snow. The vibrant feathers the crystal at the North Pole had shown them before didn't even come close to the ashen feathers that she saw now.

But the worst part was that the girl's right wing was bent at an unnatural angle, clearly broken and adding what had to be excruciating pain to the girl's torture.

What could have been an eternity passed as they all stayed frozen in a trance while looking at the gruesome injures that covered the girl's body. How could any of them have missed all of this? So many of them looked older while others bled, clearly just having been created, but still most of them looked like they have days to heal. There was just no way all of those injuries were there before!

…Wasn't there?

All of them wanted to move, to do something, anything even if they didn't know what. But each of them found themselves in the same position as the Pooka had been in what seemed like only moments ago. Frozen in shock as they looked at the fallen girl.

Tears slowly fell from beautiful violet eyes and Toothiana covered her mouth with her hands to choke down the sobs that bubbled up from her throat as she looked at the unnamed girl before her. She must be in so much pain, Tooth thought.

All of them were thinking that, even Pitch. Thinking about how much she must hurt right now, trying to organize their thoughts into a reasonable decision of what they might do. None of them had any idea what was going on, yet, and each of them was trying to figure out exactly what they should be feeling right now. Fear? Sadness? Anger? Hate? Pity? None of those seemed right.

Once again all any of them could do was stare in horror at the girl while hundreds of thoughts raced through their minds as they tried to understand what was going on, and just what they should be doing. None of them having any idea how to respond to what they had just seen.

Except for the Tooth Fairy.

Shudders racked her body as she stared at the girl's broken wing, knowing just how much pain she must be in right now. Tears continued to flow from her eyes as she took in every detail of the girl's bruised and battered body, the mini teeth holding tight to their mother and each other as they cried with her. But they weren't crying just because of the horrid sight they had just been forced to witness of a girl nearly getting beaten to death by something they were unable to see. No.

They were crying because they knew what this really meant.

And so did their mother, no matter how much she didn't want to admit it. She didn't want to tell them, though she knew by the looks on their faces that she would have to soon or risk one of them doing something stupid.

Which was exactly what happened.

He didn't know how, and he didn't know why, but in an instant Jack Frost found himself rising to his feet and running towards the girl, any sense of shock or fear or confusion suddenly flew out the proverbial window as all but one line of thought suddenly left his mind and he raced forward.

Truth be told, he had no idea what it was or could have possibly been that made him regain his senses. Maybe it was the look of ultimate fear in her eyes as she went down, the same look that had been in his little sister's eyes when he had fallen through the ice. Maybe not. But something, some tiny voice somewhere in the back of his mind suddenly screamed bloody murder at him and told him to move. So he did. It was almost as if his body was acting on its own, running towards her. It was an impulse.

Maybe, he told himself as he raced forward. But he knew there was another reason.

Somewhere, deep in the darkest corners of his mind, he felt there was something else. Faint echoes reverberating throughout his mind from something that told him that he couldn't let this girl die. The same crushing loneliness he felt before returned tenfold as thoughts he didn't even understand raced through his mind.

Not her. I can't let this happen! Not to her! Anyone else but her! She can't die, she couldn't die! Because she was-

…was… what?

He didn't know the answer. He didn't care! All he knew and cared about was helping her and keeping her safe. He had to do something, anything other than just sit here as he watched this girl die. It didn't matter that he didn't even know her. It didn't matter that he had never even seen her before today and neither had any of the others. None of it mattered. All that mattered was keeping her safe.

But, why? He asked himself. Why did he suddenly feel like this? Like the world itself was suddenly dying around him, giving way to blackened emptiness…

Like he was about to shatter.

Jack was mere feet away from the unconscious girl, ready to drop to his knees beside her and try to revive her, but something stopped him in his tracks.

A shrill yell of, "NO!" A blur of feathers was all he saw before he felt himself being knocked away from the winged girl as something crashed harshly into his side and tackled him to the ground.

"NO Jack, stay away from her!"

It was Tooth! That shrill note of panic was unmistakable in her voice as she all but screamed at him, and Jack only had a second or two to gape at the fairy queen in shock before regaining his senses and fighting to break free of her hold as she pinned him to the ground.

"Tooth, what is WRONG with you?!" He yelled, rolling back and forth, trying to shake the fairy-woman off him. "We have to help her!"

But Tooth wouldn't be budged. She fought back, using every bit of her strength to keep him down and away from the bleeding girl."

"NO!" She yelled again, pushing Jack forcibly down into the snow with her hands. "Jack, you cannot touch her! It will only hurt her more and if she wakes up she will not hesitate to kill you!"

By now, the rest of the Guardians and Pitch Black had snapped out of it and North even tried to approach the two struggling immortals, but their arguing has escalated to such an extent that they were almost screaming at each other.

"If we don't do something she's going to DIE!"

"Jack stop, you don't understand! I want to but there is nothing we can do for her!"

"YES THERE IS! There has to be! We can't just let her die! The moon-"

"SHE ISN'T THE ONE THE MOON CHOSE!"

Everyone froze at that, even Jack. His round sapphire eyes stared up at Tooth's violet ones with confusion that was mirrored by every other person present to hear her words. Tooth let out a shaky breath as she lowered her gaze to the ground.

"She's not…" She began, then stopped. The words weren't coming out right. Why did it have to be her who told them?! "She is, but she isn't. Jack you just don't understand. There isn't anything we can do for her in here." Tooth sighed deeply, her eyes still glassy from tears as everyone stared at her and searched for answers to the questions that were swirling through all of their heads as even more confusion was added to the now seemingly endless supply coming from them all.

Sandy was the only one out of the group who could actually bring himself to respond to any of this. None of the others moved as he slowly floated over to the two immortals still on the ground before placing a comforting hand on Tooth's shoulder. Offering her a small smile when her bright violate eyes looked up at his and helped her to her feet.

"Thank you Sandy." She gave him a meek smile in return while he helped the Guardian of Fun.

As Sandy helped Jack back up the remaining members of the group managed to finally snap out of there solid trance. North moved to help the fallen Guardian of Hope off the ground who was still looking at his blood stained fur while Pitch rose silently, watching all of this with lurid fascination. They soon joined the others in the center of the clearing before being ushered back a ways more from the unnamed girl by Tooth. None protested.

In fact, none of them even spoke at all, if only for the reason that absolutely no one knew what they were supposed to say. Everyone had the same set of questions buzzing through their heads that they wanted to voice to the fairy but none of them could put it into words.

They stood like that for what felt like an eternity, waiting for someone to make the first move to speak while simultaneously sending nervous looks back to the unconscious girl.

It was finally North who broke the eerie silence, looking the tooth fairy in the eyes as he managed to find his voice. "All right… Tooth. I believe it is time to tell us vhat exactly is going on here."

Toothiana lowered her already downcast eyes, refusing to raise her head to look at any of them for a long while before her gaze traveled to the winged girl on the ground. Her eyes remained on the girl for a long while before she looked up to her fellow Guardians and the Nightmare King with a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry for not explaining until now," she said. Her voice was soft, almost inaudible, and a few of them stepped closer to hear her better. "But I didn't know we were in this deep until that," she gestured to the girl on the ground. "Started."

No one spoke.

Tooth took a deep breath. "I know you all have questions, and- because I'm the only one who can answer them I will, to the best of my ability."

North nodded. "Go on Tooth," he prompted gently.

Tooth sighed yet again. This was going to rip her heart and soul out to tell them, but it had to be done. "As I told you before, this girl," she motioned again to the still body. "Is not the one Manny told us about."

Pitch narrowed his eyes in question at the fairy but stayed silent as she continued.

"She is a Psyche…" Tooth repeated, hesitating at what she was going to say next. She felt like she was standing on the edge of a precipice, with all for them looking at her like this.

Thankfully, Bunny spoke up before she could continue; finding his voice for the first time sense the girl had attacked him.

"Alright then," he said quietly. "So the Sheila's a Psyche, we get that. But what is a Psyche Tooth?" He spoke quite calmly, despite the conflicting emotions and confusion that were raging in his head. Seeing the deaths of the Pooka Warriors had rattled him, he would not deny that. Pitch, shadow-sneaking ratbag that he was, could probably taste the fear rolling off of him in waves. Fear of the unknown, and fear of the girl. He didn't know what she was capable of and, because of that, he was afraid. Not that he would ever admit to it.

"A Psyche..." Tooth began again, knowing that she was taking a risk in telling them about this but she had to. They deserved that much. "A Psyche is a being that exists within another person. A separate personality. They reside in the memories of the one they protect. Their master, or in her case, mistress."

As she spoke Tooth looked back to the girl along with the others, as the only movement she continued to make was a faint rise and fall of her chest. "A Psyche lives within their master's memories." She continued. "Protecting them, keeping them alive, and sometimes even… destroying them."

At this the others turned to look at the fairy queen.

"That is how amnesia is caused in many cases," she explained. "Or selective memory loss. If a memory is too strong, too painful for a person to be able to handle, then there Psyche distorts it or even removes it completely."

Tooth allowed this new information to sink in slowly, wishing that she didn't have to do this. It was hard enough being here, a place where none of them ought to be, but speaking of this here was almost impossible.

"So… in a way," Jack said after a while, wide eyed as he looked to stare at the girl. "A Psyche is like someone's own personal Guardian of memories?"

Tooth smiled sadly. "Yes. That's exactly what they are. And every single person in the world has one, even us."

Bunny allowed his confusion to show in the face of anger and annoyance. "Alright, fine." he said. "So the crazy Sheila's the Guardian'a someone's mind. I can buy that. But that don't explain why she just tried to snap my bloody neck! Please'don tell me her mistress is also this cracked!"

Tooth winced perceptively. She could understand her comrade's anger and confusion over what had just taken place and she knew they needed to know the truth, but it made her heart sink when Bunny said the very thing that she hadn't wanted to say above all.

"Actually… it does."

Bunny's eyes widened and he was on the verge of letting out a torrent of questions, but was stopped when everyone shot him a look that clearly told him to shut up and he closed his mouth, letting her continue.

"A Psyche's personality is not like their master's," Tooth said, skirting around the point she knew she would have to make. "In fact most Psyche's actually have similar personalities. They are rash, strong, and incredibly protective. It is a Psyche's-" Tooth stopped, glancing at the girl on the ground. "It is her job to protect her master's memories at any cost. From both anything… and anyone." Tooth raised her head once more to look at the others. "And that means protecting it from us."

"But Tooth," North burst out, unable to keep it in any longer. "Ve never meant any harm. To her or dis place. Ve never even meant to come here at all!"

"That doesn't matter." Tooth replied evenly. "We're here, whether intentional or not, and that's the problem. No one is meant to enter into another person's memories. Not even me."

Pitch blinked, then spoke for the first time since his failed attempt to leave. "But I thought that was your job."

Everyone turned to look at him and Pitch squirmed slightly under all their gazes.

"I mean, I thought you protected the children's memories." He said quickly, trying to ignore the looks of the others and focusing on Toothiana. "You made such a big deal about them when I..." He trailed off.

Tooth allowed herself a small smile. "Yes, that is my job Pitch. I gather baby teeth to keep the memories of a person's childhood safe. And when they need to remember something important from when they were young, my fairies and I help them."

Pitch opened his mouth again, but Tooth swiftly answered his unspoken question.

"But I never actually go into those memories and see them. That would violate every law of personal privacy it is not my place. Not to mention the fact that it is extremely dangerous to even attempt it. Entering someone's memories can actually cause damage to them if you're not careful, though normally it's not really even possible in the first place." She sighed. "I have no idea how we got here, but I do know we need to leave, now."

North frowned. "Vhy?" He asked.

Tooth gestured to the girl once more. "Because when she wakes she will not hesitate to attack us again. She will do and say anything to make us leave! Whatever it takes if she thinks we're a threat. Even if it means killing us…"

The fairy queen paused as she let the others take this all in. Truth be told she wasn't even beginning to scratch the surface of what a Psyche actually was, but she didn't have time to go into explicit detail about this. It was her job and she barely understood all of it!

"So," Jack said, breaking the silence again. "That's… that's what you meant before then?"

Everyone turned to him and Jack had a momentary twinge of discomfort at being in the spotlight, but he pressed on. Looking at Tooth, he said, "You said that, when she insulted you, she was supposed to say that."

Tooth nodded solemnly in response. "Yes. We have no right to be here, as she said."

They stood in silence for a little longer, then Bunny spoke. "Alright," he said. "I can accept that we're in some Sheila's memories. I can accept that she's a Psyche, and I get why she's pissed we're here."

Tooth waited, knowing there was a 'but' coming. She wasn't disappointed.

"But what I don't get is why we just had ta watch while she just got her bloody skull bashed in by nothin!"

The girl on the ground flinched and let out a loud moan of pain at the sound of the rabbit's loud voice before going still once more. Her movements caused a collective flinch throughout the group and everyone took a few steps back before sending various looks and glares in the Pooka's direction, regardless of that question being at the forefront of everyone's mind.

Bunny had the good grace to look ashamed and, when the others were sure the girl wouldn't wake quite yet, they looked back to Tooth. She didn't look too good.

Sick was the word that came to everyone's mind when they surveyed the pale woman. Her body shuddered, tears pricked at the edges of her eyes as she looked down and avoided the gazes of the others. Her mini fairies were in similar states as they fluttered close to their mother. Baby Tooth landed to perch on her mother's shoulder before giving a little chirp.

Toothiana looked down at her daughter with a weary smile while Baby Tooth just smiled back encouragingly with another chirp.

"Tooth," North said gently, knowing that whatever she was about to say next wasn't going to be good but also knowing that it had to be said. "What is wrong?"

The fairy queen slowly raised her head to look back at her fellow Guardians and the Boogeyman, internally preparing herself for what she was about to tell them.

"There's more to the connection between a Psyche and their master then just memories," she began. "A Psyche shares both an emotional and… and a physical connection with their master as well."

The silence that followed could have deafened everyone.

Looks of shock and horror replaced ones of confusion on the Guardians faces as they immediately deciphered the meaning of their comrade's words, and each one of them found themselves begging MIM that they were wrong. They waited for Tooth to continue, to say something else and tell them that what they were thinking wasn't really what they had just seen, but each one was met with crushing disappointment when she just stayed silent.

Even Pitch couldn't help how his wide his eyes went as the Tooth Fairy's words sunk in. Because if what she said was true… then this girl, this child had just been…

"Tooth. Please… Please tell me you do not really mean vhat I think you do."

Tears began to fall again as the dam that Tooth had erected when she had started explaining finally fell. She covered her mouth with her hands to hold back the sobs that were fighting to be let out, her body trembled as she sank down to the snowy floor.

"It does," she wept bitterly, covering her face with her hands to try and hold herself together in any way she could. "E-everything... everything we just saw happening to her… is happening to her mistress's body in the real world."


	7. Shadows of an Empty Past

You'll Never Know

Shadows of an Empty Past

"…It does. E-everything we just saw happening to her… is happening to her mistress's body in the real world."

Silence once again took hold of everyone, each person slowly turning to look at the girl on the ground who just seemed to be barely clinging to life. Her body shook and trembled as blood continued to pour out of the gaping wound in her stomach and pooled beneath her in a lake of crimson, melting the snow around her and turning the hard ground into blackened mud.

The flow of red liquid was beginning to cease as the fast healing powers of a spirit's body finally began to slowly close the wound, but her breaths still remained labored and unsteady. Her already deathly pail skin somehow turning an even more prominent shade of milky white from the blood loss, and small tears of agony streamed down the sides of her face as they escaped from tightly closed eyes.

Toothiana was sobbing on the cold ground, her body shuddered as tears that matched the winged girl's trickled down her face before falling into the snow below her. The mini fairy's fared no better than their mother, letting out high pitched squeaks and chirps while holding onto their queen.

"How…"

Everyone looked up to the tall Russian man when he spoke through gritted teeth, their already widened eyes growing still wider as they took in the bearded man's demeanor. North was looking down at the bleeding girl, the bleeding child with narrowed eyes. But that wasn't what had everybody shocked.

No, they were shocked because Nicholas St. North, arguable the strongest and greatest swordsmen of all time, king of the bandits, was shaking.

North's body was trembling with rage as he looked at the girl, cold fury replacing any sign of childlike wonder in his eyes as he fought to remain calm. His heart pounded painfully against his chest as rage that he had not felt even in the last battle with the Nightmare King only hours prior took hold of his heart.

"How is dis possible?" His voice was shaky and hoarse as he addressed the Tooth Fairy, despite his attempts to keep it even. But it was no use. He was angry, no, he was furious, but not at the girl who lay helplessly before him. Despite what she nearly did to his comrade, his anger was not directed toward her.

He was furious at himself.

He had just watched as this girl, this child, very nearly be beaten to death right in front of him and he couldn't do a single thing to help her! All he had done was stand there as she was attacked. But even if he couldn't have helped against an unseen enemy, he felt that he should have still attempted to help her. Even if they were all within the confines of a memory with no connection the physical world, he should have tried to stop this! As a Guardian, it was his duty to protect children. And he had failed.

But that wasn't the half of it. What made him all the more furious was the fact he now knew about what had caused this. That somewhere in the world this child's real body had just been mercilessly beaten and was now most likely lying unconscious in a ditch somewhere, being tortured by the pain she must be feeling because as she slowly bleed out.

North's fist clenched in a vice like grip, turning his knuckles white as he was forced to use every single ounce of willpower he had to keep himself in check. He slowly turned his head back to look at the weeping fairy in the snow who had been unable to keep herself composed any longer.

"How is dis possible Toothiana?" He repeated. His voice so strained and horse that it would make anyone think he had been chewing on gravel.

The collective gazes of the group slowly joined with North's as they looked at the Tooth Fairy, varying degrees of shock, disbelief, and fear etched in all of their faces. Tooth covered her mouth with dainty hands as she fruitlessly tried to choke back the sobs that shook her small frame while tears streamed from her violet eyes. The mini fairies around her cried out in small chirps and squeaks as they forced themselves to look away from the bleeding child and cling to their mother.

Tooth kept her head lowered and her gaze far away from the others as they waited for her to finally answer the question they were all silently asking her, even though none of them really wanted to know the answer.

"Tooth-"

"I don't know!" She screamed, stopping the Cossack before he could ask again as she shook her head, trying to get rid of the horrible images behind her eyes that had been burned into her memory like the fires of hell. "I don't know…" Her voice was small and meek, barely audible as her body sank even more into the icy snow. "I don't know how it works it just does OK?! It just…"

Yet another wave of tense silence washed over them all as Tooth let her sentence fizzle out. Again not a single one of them knew how to respond to what they had just been told, so they just stood there in the empty silence, every one of their minds racing with thoughts that they simply could not voice.

A gently breeze blew through the forest, rattling the bare branches of the snow covered trees and causing the white powder to dust into the air around them before falling back to the otherwise lifeless ground. This place, this world was just too quiet. There were no sounds of wings flapping from birds overhead. No faint howling of distant wolves as they cried out to the silver moon above. Besides the cold wind that blew through the trees there was nothing but silence- still, frozen silence that expanded throughout a void of emptiness and into the darkness of the freezing night.

And each of them had a fleeting thought that this deafening emptiness may be even more terrifying then what they had all just been forced to witness.

The forest was supposed to be a peaceful thing. Full of beauty and tranquility that only nature could ever create. Even in the dead of winter, where all life seemed to be fleeting if not lost completely, the blanket of white that covered everything like a soft quilt embracing the world with the beauty only ice and snow could create. It was supposed to be beautiful. And yet somehow this place seemed even more empty then the never ending white void they had first appeared in.

Even to Jack the wind here felt cold and harsh. It was not the wind that had been his only companion for the past 300 years of otherwise isolation.

But it wasn't just the emptiness of this world that was terrifying. It was the fact that none of it was real.

What they were seeing was just a figment, a shadow of something that has passed. They did not know just how long ago this was, but they were in a memory, a memory of a spirit no less. They could be hundreds of years in the past, thousands even. There was really no way to tell.

A world that was real but wasn't, surrounded by emptiness and isolation while seemingly frozen in time. And this was a memory. This was actually someone's memory.

Just how painful would it be to have a memory like this?

This thought was fleeting, like all of the others racing through their minds.

"All right… Then we have to get out of here." The various trains of chaotic thoughts the others had been on suddenly halted with a crash when the Guardian of fun spoke up. There gazes traveled to the young immortal and their eyes all widened slightly at the sight of his sudden change in demeanor.

Any looks of confusion or fear that had been etched into his features had been wiped clean and replaced with a hard look of seriousness and determination none of them would have ever expected to see on the winter child's face.

"If that's true, and whatever we just saw happening to her is happening to someone in the real world then we have to get out of here and find them!"

The remaining Guardians as well as the Boogeyman looked slightly stunned by the boy's sudden exclamation, still not one was a hundred percent sure what they should be thinking or doing about what they just witnessed.

However, each one of them knew he was right.

Each member of the Guardians shared a look with one another before looking back to their youngest member with a nod and expressions of hard determination that matched his own. Pitch was doing his best to remain seemingly impassive but even he silently agreed with the boy's words.

"Jack is right!" North declared rather loudly, slightly startling the others- though Pitch would deny it vehemently- and crossing his large arms as a small spark of childlike wonder began to return to the Russian Guardian's eyes.

North leaned down with an encouraging smile full of renewed vigor and reached out a hand to help the Tooth Fairy to her feet again. Toothiana gave a small smile in return. She wiped away the tears that were still trickling down her face before accepting his help and moving to stand as the Guardian of wonder continued.

"Dare is nothing ve can do in here. Right now dere is child somevhere who needs our help! So now ve must go and find zem, bring zem back to ze Pole for medical treatment, and den consult vith Manny as to vhy he vould send us to find a girl who lives in someone's head." He stated loudly.

North looked back down at the girl who was shivering and crying in the snow before them, his eyes saddening once more as the urge to do something for her continued to grow. He wanted to do something, anything for the girl but if what Tooth said is true then there was nothing they could do for her, this was the only thing they could do.

"And helping her 'mistress' vill help her as vell, no?" He asked the fairy, praying that she would confirm his thought. Tooth managed a small smile and a nod, forcing her eyes to remain on the others and away from the fallen girl.

"Yes. If her mistress is helped, then she will be saved as well."

At that, the determination in both Jack and North's eyes was quickly passed onto the other Guardians, each one of them finally regaining themselves after pushing back any confusion or fear they had had only moments prior as they all came to a common resolve.

They were going to do whatever it took to save this girl.

Bunny stepped forward to address the others, this time keeping his voice low and steady to avoid possibly waking the girl who probably wouldn't hesitate to decapitate him after he'd pissed her off. "All right then, we gotta plan. Get outta this nut house, find the Sheila, an' get 'er to the Pole." He said before he glanced at the Boogeyman. "An' then stick 'is gray arse back underground for the next few centuries while we're at it." He said with a menacing glare.

Pitch rolled his eyes at the rabbit's threat, though his detached attitude provided cover for the real emotions that were inside him: Anger, frustration and- dare he admit it? A little bit of concern. "I'd be slightly more concerned with the sniveling girl in the mud if I were you, Pooka." He said lazily, making sure to lace his words with a hint of venom to keep them from seeing him as completely at ease with this.

"And while you know I just hate to be the bearer of bad news, as well as the fact that I don't particularly care about what you intend to do here, I feel the need to point out that you have no idea where on earth this so called 'mistress' of hers is, how to find her, or even what she looks like. Just how exactly do you intend to help her before she bleeds to death?" He inquired, raising a thin eyebrow with mock concern.

Bunny's eyes narrowed dangerously at Pitch's words. His paws clenched into tight fists to keep them from reaching for his missing boomerangs out of habit as he stepped forward to strangle the Nightmare King before suddenly being stopped by-

"Frostbite?!"

Shit! What the hell am I doing?! His thoughts screamed. Jack had just suddenly stepped between Bunny and Pitch without even thinking of what he was doing, his staff outstretched to keep the two to from approaching one another.

Jack's mind was screaming at him, asking if he had finally lost any bit of sanity had had managed to maintain over 300 years of isolation and accidently flying into trees. Though his face remained calm and serious despite his internal panic that he hoped to MIM Pitch wasn't able to sense.

As if my luck could ever be that good. He thought in irritation.

"Just what the hell do ya think your doin'?!" The Easter Bunny shouted, beyond shocked and completely disbelieving that he was trying to defend the shadow rat who had just tried to send them into oblivion not even a day ago.

Pitch, though he would never admit it, was feeling the exact same way. His eyes had gone wide when the boy intervened, remembering this as the second time it had happened and then narrowing as he sensed Jack's anxiety. The storm of negative emotions that he detected, among them fear and worry but for whom, Pitch wasn't sure, was making it hard to pinpoint exactly what he was thinking. Something along the lines of, can't let this happen...gotta keep everyone from killing each other here.

He was brought back into the real world- or, at least the world of the girl's mind that they were trapped in, by the voice of the person he was trying to infiltrate. Jack was saying, "Look, Bunny, I get it OK? You want his head on a stick but-"

"I want 'is head on a bloody pedestal and the rest of 'em at the bottom of the Pacific!" Bunny seethed through gritted teeth.

At any other time Tooth would have scolded him for the damage that could cause to the enamel but she was a bit too busy looking nervously back and forth between the enraged Easter Bunny and the girl who could begin to wake up at any time.

Jack had to hold back the involuntary flinch from the harshness in the Pooka's voice. "I know!" He tried the sympathetic approach, knowing that he was about two seconds away from an all-out brawl with the two spirits. "And you have every right to want that."

Pitch shot him a look which he ignored.

"But can we just hold off on the 'let's decapitate the Boogeyman' idea until we get out of here, please?" Jack pleaded. "Fighting isn't going to solve anything and besides," he glanced over at Bunny's back where he would normally have his Boomerangs strapped and then to Pitch. "He doesn't exactly have any weapons. You've got your fists. Wouldn't it be a little unfair?"

"WHAT?!" Bunny raged, advancing on the younger Guardian. "You're actually tryin to defend that rat bag?!" He was angry- no, he was more than angry. He was downright pissed. Jack had to be kidding! How could he be trying to stop him from pounding that bloody closet-creeper's head into the forest floor after what he had just done to them?!

The Pooka rose to his full 6 ft. 1 height and glared down at the younger spirit, who in turn glared right back though on the inside he had to once again physically restrain himself from wincing back under the rabbit's harsh gaze.

I'm screwed.

He had to think of something, like, NOW. But what could he say?! 'Sorry, but I just don't think the guy who tried to kill us deserves to die because I can understand why he did it and I feel kinda bad for him so maybe we could just try and not kill each other for a while?'

Oh yeah, because that'd go over soooo well. Jack mentally slapped himself for being an idiot.

Both thankfully and non-thankfully however, luck seemed to be on Jack's side in this particular instance. Before he could open his mouth to say something he'd no doubt regret three seconds later and before the Easter Bunny could step forward to clock him upside the head and make him move all attention was brought away from him and back to the trembling girl on the ground.

"P-please…"

Everyone's head snapped towards the girl with wide, unblinking eyes as she sobbed and choked on icy air that made it feel like she was swallowing needles. Her voice was soft, barely above a whisper and even the Easter Bunny was questioning if she had actually said something through the harsh coughing and the ragged breathing as she began to curl into herself against the pain.

"It- it hurts… I-I don want to d-die… I d-don't want to die al… alone. Plea…... Not…here…"

She coughed and moaned from the agony that had long since spread throughout her entire body like a fiery poison. Her weak voice cut off with final harsh sob and a whimper of pain that pierced every single Guardians heart like a steel blade as a single thing echoed throughout all of their minds like a sickening drum beat.

'I don't want to die alone.'

The thought circled through their heads and grew until it was practically screaming at them as realization began to set in. Alone.

This girl was all alone. Right now. Scared, and in pain, and alone.

Every single person felt their heart sink with this conclusion, even the Nightmare King.

Pitch felt his own Fearling-encrusted heart metaphorically sink into the pit of his stomach as he looked down on the little girl, even though he normally didn't much care about such things. Death was a natural occurrence in the world and for an immortal like him, he'd seen it more times than he would like to admit.

He had seen the fall of countless civilizations and the deaths of some of the greatest figures in history, including Ceaser, Marc Antony, Attila the Hun and even Al Capone. But no matter how much he tried to ignore it, to force the thoughts away into the dark corners of his mind, seeing the death of a child always managed to bring him pain. And the fact that this girl was a spirit wasn't doing a single thing to make that pain hurt any less.

For a moment, his thoughts trailed off as anger began to boil in his chest and his gaze shifted away from the girl to glare viciously up at the moon concealed behind the bare branches of the forest trees. Your precious Guardians may think I'm the cruel one old friend, he thought viciously. But I'm not the fool who condemned children to suffer the isolated hell of a spirit's eternity. First Frost, and now her? He glanced back down at the girl. Tell me then, witch one of us is truly the cruel one?

As this was going on, the Guardians were having their own little mental kumbaya session. Each was thinking about the same thing he was: The girl on the ground. So they were a bit too preoccupied with their own thoughts to be concerned about him at the moment or notice the Boogeyman's sudden change in demeanor.

Most of their thoughts on the girl revolved around her age: She was older than the children they normally dealt with, clearly a teenager, but she was still a child. Any thought that they all previously had about her possibly being older were sent up in smoke when her mask of anger and hate shattered like glass and was replaced by strained whimpers and a plea for help as she lay helpless on the cold ground.

Right now she sounded like nothing more than a small child waiting for help, and her thin, shaking frame that had slowly curled into itself only made the image that much more heartbreaking.

She was a child. A child they were not able to reach.

That was all they could bring themselves to think as they looked down at the girl who they were not allowed near. But even Tooth, who knew that this girl would not hesitate to kill them was straining to stay where she was and keep from flying over to the crying girl and doing whatever she could, even if it was pointless. And the others were finding this even harder to simply accept as they were forced to watch as the girl cried out for help without doing a thing to help her.

"…No."

The voice was hard, cold, and laced with a piercing anger that was harsher then the arctic wind. Once again everyone in the group felt their head collectively whip to look at the source of the dangerously low voice that could have frozen fire. And none of them were expecting what they saw.

Jack's head was lowered slightly, his white bangs falling over his face and shadowing his eyes from view. His hand was wrapped around his staff so tightly that his knuckles had lost any color they may have previously had until they were as white as the snow around them, while the other was clenched into such a tight fist at his side that his it was shaking. The sight of the Guardian of fun instantly set the others on edge. None of them had ever imagined that Jack could look so serious.

"No… I am not trying to defend him." The voice of the spirit of winter was strained and rough, lacking even an ounce of the childlike fun and mischief it was always spoken with.

Bunny seemed to recall the fight that had been about to take off only minutes ago and realized that Jack was talking to him. The Pooka once again narrowed his eyes at the young spirit, more than ready to pick up where he left off.

"If ya ain't tryin to defend 'im then get out of my way so I can ring his scrawny neck!" Jack didn't move. "What, suddenly you're all fine and dandy with the creep that tried ta send us off into oblivion?!" Bunny moved to step forward and push the kid aside and opened his mouth to keep ranting at the winter spirit, no longer even considering the fact that he could wake the unconscious girl. But before he could take so much as breath he was met with an icy glare that strangled the words in his throat and froze him in his tracks.

"Of course not!" He said coldly which, for Jack, made his voice sound harsher then the arctic wind. "But killing him isn't going to get us out of here! And you heard what Tooth said! Us just being here could hurt her and that is the LAST thing she needs right now! We have to get out of here and help her and then you two are more than welcome to bash each other's skulls in!"

Silence. Very tense silence.

The original big four and the Boogeyman all stared at the boy, wide eyed and in shock, all of them completely taken aback by Jack's sudden outburst with not the slightest clue of how to respond.

Everyone stood still, the tension so thick in the air North could have probably cut it with his sabers if he had them. A stunned look crossed each one of their faces to varying degrees. North and Sandy's jaws had dropped like rocks to the forest floor while Tooth and her mini fairies had enough control of themselves to be able to glance worriedly between the three immortals.

Well, about 90% of her fairies.

The other ten percent was Baby Tooth, who was smirking with what was about the closest thing to a shit-eating grin as you could possibly get. Her little arms crossed over her chest as she nodded toward Jack in more than impressed agreement.

Personally she would like to see Pitch thrown into an icy ravine after sustaining a few broken ribs and being locked in a cage for a few years (Sound familiar?). But she knew they had more important things to be worrying about.

Pitch himself was actually standing there in a similar state as the others, shock etched into his features but otherwise emotionless as his mind processed what had just happened. He wasn't quite sure if he should be smirking or glaring at the kid at this point.

Bunny's eyes were the widest of all as he looked down at the kid and he had to resist letting his jaw drop like North and Sandy. Over the past few days of actually getting to know Jack he had come to expect a few things from him, particularly in an argument. Jack had only ever retorted with a snarky remark of some kind or a 'Kangaroo' comment. Oh yeah. Both Bunny and all of the others had been expecting a variety of reactions from the winter teen.

But this? This was not on the list.

Jack's ice cold glare caused a shiver to run down Bunny's spine though he didn't dare let it show. Despite his still in shock state, there was no way in hell his pride would ever let the bloody little show pony get that satisfaction.

Jack himself however, was actually having a bit of an epic battle in the center of his soul at the moment. A small part of him screamed at him to shut up right there. He had never been good at openly talking about his feelings, mostly because he never had anyone to talk to, but regardless, it was not a strong suit of his. Over the cores of 300 years he had managed to be able to push everything back. To not think about how much it hurt or how much his life sucked. He had learned how to hold it in and remain the mischievous winter spirit everyone believed he was. So why now, of all times, did his emotions suddenly decide to blow up now?!

Truth be told, he didn't know the answer.

He didn't know why any of this was happening, it just was. He knew he was angry. He knew he was frustrated, and quite frankly he had the right to be!

He was angry because the fat headed Kangaroo couldn't swallow his damn pride for ten seconds and was too busy fighting the Boogeyman to be worried about the fact that there was a girl slowly bleeding to death right in front of him. He was angry at the fact that they were trapped in someone's memories, completely powerless for seemingly no other reason than to watch this girl be tortured by freaking Casper! He was angry at himself because he couldn't do anything to help the girl, and he was frustrated because he was completely and utterly useless!

What was the point of even being a Guardian if you couldn't protect anyone?!

His frustration and anger about everything was managing to get the best of him, he felt his emotions building up inside of him like his powers when he didn't use them for too long until he was about to explode. Just like the blizzard of 68 all those years ago.

And then there was the pain.

That was what confused him the most. The one thing he couldn't explain no matter how much he tried.

A soul crushing emptiness that made his chest ache and scream like he had been impaled with hot iron strangled his lungs and sliced at his heart with razor sharp claws. It hurt to breath and he had to fight with every ounce of willpower he had to push away the hot sensation that was pushing at the back of his eyes as he glared up at the Guardian of hope.

The pain grew and he felt what could only be described as a punch in the gut every time he heard the girl cough and whimper helplessly in pain. And he could feel his heart shatter like fragile glass every time his eyes strayed to look at her shivering form.

And when she had spoken, it felt like his body had been set on fire.

It hurt. It hurt so much, and he didn't know why. But he didn't care. All he cared about was doing something, anything to help her. Because the thought of how much pain she must be in made him feel like he was going to throw up, adding nausea to the long growing list of distress that he was somehow managing to keep from showing on the surface. But only just barely.

Jack was so engrossed in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed North snapping out of confusion next to him until he felt a large hand being placed on his shoulder.

His head snapped away from the Easter Bunny and up to the Guardian of wonder. North was smiling reassuringly down at him, not a single hint of anger or disappointment in his childlike eyes as he placed a comforting hand on the younger spirit's shoulder.

Jack's glare instantly vanished, replaced by a look of confusion and a bit of regret for what he had just said. But North paid it no mind as he looked back up to the others. "Jack is right."

Bunny looked aghast at North's statement, this time unable to keep his jaw from dropping as he stared at the large Russian before coming to his senses enough to glare at him and the immortal teen.

"Oh you have gotta be kiddin' me! Don't tell me ya actually agree with the bloody show pony! Are ya actually willin' ta work with this bastard?!"

"Yes."

THAT was able to stop the Easter Bunny in his tracks, along with every other male spirit present. Because North was not the one who had just said that.

Every set of eyes was simultaneously sent to the Tooth Fairy and not even Pitch could keep his jaw up this time.

Toothiana stood with her back straight and arms held at her side, her wings fully extended behind her in reflex. Her eyes were still a bit red and puffy from crying, but they had been completely wiped clean of any emotion other than solid determination. Their beautiful violet color that normally held such excitement and kindness behind them were now hard as stone.

This is why you never wanted to piss Tooth off. She was an amazing person, kind, hyper, motherly and happy, so much so that much of the time the other members of the original big four managed to forget one key fact.

Toothiana wasn't just a queen. No. She was a warrior queen.

Tooth was a descendent of some of the greatest warriors of all time, a race of invincible winged woman called the Sisters of Flight. And like them she was a fierce fighter with speed and strength that could rival that of any man despite her appearance.

And that was why you never wanted to get her angry. If the others thought about it, Pitch had been more than a little lucky to get off with only one lost tooth rather than a blade through his sternum.

It had been more than five centuries since they had last seen her so much like the queen she truly was, and now that they were seeing it again? Nervous didn't even begin to cover the collective amount of anxiety radiating from them all.

She had spoken in such a hard and serious tone that, for what had to be the hundredth time in the past hour, everyone was sent into a state of shocked silence as they stared at the Tooth Fairy. Even her mini fairies!

But they didn't need to say anything, because she wasn't done quite yet.

"If working together will get us out of here faster, then yes, I will work with him. And so will the rest of you. There is a little girl out there right now, hurt and alone and afraid. Getting out of here to go find her is the only thing we should be focused on." She stated before slowly lifting into the air with the rapid beat of her razor sharp wings.

"So I don't care how much you hate each other. I don't care that you would more than like to see one another locked underground for all of eternity, and I don't care if you would rather break your own eggs then work together." With every syllable of her words she moved closer and closer to the Guardian of hope until her eyes were only inches away from his own as she glared warningly down at him, just daring him to try and do anything but look at her as she spoke. Her wings lifting her up to tower over the giant rabbit's 6 foot height.

"Because you are going to work with him so we can find this girl. Do I make myself clear?"

At any other time the look on Bunny's face would have been utterly comical. With every inch closer the fairy got the more his warrior demeanor and ego cracked under her harsh gaze. He had shrunk down slightly, and his ears were plastered to the back of his head as he looked up at the warrior queen with wide unblinking eyes. And all he could bring himself to do was slowly nod his head in agreement when she hissed out her last sentence.

"Good." She said before turning away from the petrified Easter Bunny. She brought her eyes back to look at the fallen girl and they softened as she dropped to the ground as close to her as she would allow herself to get, looking down at her sadly while the others still remained frozen in place.

The male Guardians and the Nightmare King stood there looking like fish out of water. All of their mouths hanging open.

And yet another thing was added to the quickly growing list of things none of them had expected to see when they woke up this morning…

Not even half way through Tooth's little speech Sandy had taken the opportunity to back up a few feet along with North and Jack, their hands raised in both surrender and preparation for if the fairy started in with them next as various thoughts flashed through their minds.

Jack couldn't help but draw a few parallels with this. He had yet to know the fact that Toothiana was actually a queen, if he had maybe he wouldn't have made this connection. But the way Tooth was speaking reminded him way to much of Jamie's mom whenever he or one of his friends did something really, really stupid. And for whatever reason that somehow only made this more terrifying.

Pitch was standing there in a similar but less demeaning state as Bunny, eyes wide and mouth dangling slightly open before he regained himself and closed it with a near-audible snap, all the while keeping his gaze on the Tooth Fairy who was now turned away from the rest of them.

His eyes traveled over to the rabbit who was still looking like something reminiscent to a deer in head lights. He wanted to laugh at the fear the warrior Pooka was giving off that was so close to that of a child getting scolded by a parent. It was hysterical. He wanted to laugh, he really did, but he had both enough sense and self-preservation to know when to shut the hell up.

He really wasn't in the mood to lose another tooth today.

Jack slowly managed to look up at North with a look that still had slight terror etched into it, and he wasn't really surprised to see North with the same expression and most of the color drained from his face.

North looked down to meet Jack's gaze. A gaze that clearly said 'You'd better say something because there's no way in hell I'm going to.'

The Guardian of wonder returned with a look that said 'Help me!' But silently gulped when he realized he was on his own in this one.

North slowly stepped forward once more to address the others, glancing at Tooth for a moment to make sure she was done and wouldn't try to strangle him if he started talking again.

"Eh, y-yes. Both Tooth and Jack are right. Our top priority must be getting to little girl." His voice was stuttering at first but began to grow stronger until it was back to the loud booming it always was when Tooth turned her head to look at him and no longer wore the expression of a hungry wolverine.

"And if dat means vorking together vith ze Boogeyman, zen so be it." North nodded to Pitch with a slightly relieved smile that received a glare in return from the Nightmare King. He ignored it. "Ve vill all find a vay out of here and zen go to find de girl!" He continued. "Ve take her to ze Pole and fix up, and zen ve celebrate and velcome her as new Guardian!" North raised his arms in excitement at his exclamation, not at all realizing his mistake.

That last bit slapped Pitch across the face like a hot iron plate and all of the remaining Guardians flinched when North had said it.

ANOTHER GUARDIAN?! Not even 72 hours ago did that frosted little cur join their ranks but now they were adding another member to their merry band of idiots?! What, so they could use a six layer seal when they entrapped him underground for the next twelve centuries?! Like HELL he was going to let that happen!

Pitch stepped forward, eyes gleaming with fury as he glared venomously at the Guardian of wonder and his mouth opening to start screaming in rage.

But a single word, that was no more than a whisper stopped him dead in his tracks and made his blood run cold along with all of the Guardians.

"What?..."


	8. A Dying World

You'll Never Know

A Dying World

That single word, no more than a whisper, stopped him dead in his tracks and made his blood run cold along, with rest of the Guardians.

"What?"

All of the Guardians, Jack, Tooth, North, Bunny, Sandy, and even the Nightmare King himself felt their hearts stop as they registered what they had just heard. Not even Pitch was spared the feeling of fear that gripped at his blackened soul and choked the air in his lungs when he heard the haunting echo of the coarse voice that seemed to pierced his ears like a thousand burning needles.

Like something out of a cliché horror movie, they all slowly turned their heads in perfect and eerie synchronization to look behind them to where the voice had come from with wide, fearful eyes. The silence that surrounded them weighing on them like hardened cement that was only interrupted by the sound of their hearts pounding in their ears like a demonic drum beat.

Everything in time around them froze. It literally froze.

The slight but constant chilled breeze that whistled through the forest since the moment they had arrived instantly stilled. The few dark and misty clouds that had been flying overhead, concealing the light of the stars and moon halted their slow movement across the night sky all together, and a small pile of snow that the wind had pushed from one of the low hanging branches of a bare oak tree only seconds before, stopped mid fall, freezing in place in the air as if someone had hit the pause button on a movie they were trapped in.

And at the center of it all, in the middle of the silence that surrounded them, was the girl who was able to make even the Nightmare King feel fear.

She stood on trembling legs that looked like they were about to give out from under her, her left arm wrapped tightly around the wound in her abdomen while the other held her shaking from up against the trunk of the tree she had been sent flying into with the last blow that would have killed any normal girl.

A slow stream of crimson blood oozed through her fingertips and seeped through her once white dress that was now covered in mud and stained various shades of black, gray and crimson. The blood dripped off of her fingers like drops of hot rain and down into the snow and mud below her while more trickled down her quivering pale legs, staining the dirty gray feathers of her broken wings that dangled limply behind her in the muddy show.

Her body bent forward to try and suppress the torturous pain that was radiating from the gash in her stomach, her head bowed and her face concealed behind a curtain of blood-soaked brown curls that moved with every ragged breath that brought freezing air in and out of her lungs.

"What… did you just say?..." She repeated in a dead whisper that each of them had to strain to hear.

Not a single one of them moved to answer her. Whether it be from once again finding themselves simply not knowing what to say or from the varying degrees of terror and shock that raced through each of them like a deadly poison. Their eyes remaining locked on the struggling girl.

With the slow and steady speed of a wolf stalking around its unsuspecting prey, the winged girl lifted her head to look at the people she would like nothing more than to slaughter with her bare hands for all they had done to her master. A few strands of thick curls falling from her face to reveal a pair of narrowed, bloodshot, forest green eyes that contained nothing in them but hatred and murderous intent that made them all flinch back.

"Tell me. Now. What did you just say?"

Her eyes were like steel daggers that bore into the Guardian of wonder's head as he stared back like a cornered animal about to have a bullet put through its brain.

The others wanted to look at the expression on North's face, try to look for answers that none of them had, but not a single one of them dared look anywhere but the girl in front of them. Because in the back of each of their minds they knew that one wrong move, one single moment of mistake, was all it could take to provoke the growling wolf to lunge for its prey.

And the thought of 'How could they not have noticed?' echoed through each of their minds for a fleeting moment till it was drowned out again by the sounds of their own pounding hearts.

North stared back at the girl who could be no more than sixteen years old. Who stood more than a good foot shorter then himself, and who could not even be a quarter of his weight. He stared back at this girl, this child, and Nicholas St. North, the greatest swordsmen who ever lived, the man who had gone headlong into battle with the Nightmare King more times throughout his years then he could count, felt fear.

He felt fear toward this child.

How could it be that a Guardian could ever be afraid of a child? Guardians were supposed to protect children! This was the girl who not even a minute ago was crying in pain on the ground, who he wanted nothing more than to help. But now the mask of hate and rage that had been shattered when she had been thrown into that tree had been glued back together into the form of what could easily be described as that of a demon.

North's mind raced to all of the times in his life he had ever felt this fear before. When Kathrine had been kidnapped all those years at the battle of Punjam Hy Loo, when Pitch had used the spells of enslavement to turn him into a child's toy, and not even three days ago when he had watched as one of his oldest friends and comrades had been turned into nightmare sand right before his eyes.

The burn of her glare, so cold that it burned stronger and more painful than any blade, pierced his heart until it was like he could barely breathe. But no matter how this girl looked at him, no matter how unnerving her stare was or how much that look sent shudders up his spine, his fear was still not as pure as the girl would have liked it to be.

Because yes, this child scared him. But he wasn't just scared of this child. He was scared for this child.

Despite the hate in her gaze, the clearly noticeable fury and desire to attack and kill, to him she still looked like a little girl.

Her thin, trembling body that was covered in dark bruises and slit like gashes, the tears of pain that still flowed steadily from her narrowed eyes that fell from her face into the now crimson snow, and the drops of steaming blood that dripped from her hands and into the puddle of black and red mud below her.

When North saw this girl he saw many things. He saw a dangerous animal that was ready to slaughter its prey without a seconds hesitation. He saw another animal that looked scared and wounded and that had its back against a corner with nowhere else to hide.

And he saw a child. He saw a bleeding, crying child that was scared and in pain. And it was because that was what he saw, he was able to fight back the fear of her. He pushed it back into the darkest corner of his mind and replaces it with is fear for her. He was a Guardian, she was a child, and he was not just going to sit by and let her suffer because he had been weak enough to let fear rule his mind.

If leaving was the only way to help her, then by MIM they were going to get out of here and they were going to help her!

These thoughts brought back the bravery and determination that one would never expect any less of from Nicholas St. North, and so in either a moment of bravery or ignorance, he stepped forward.

"Man in moon haz chosen you, to become a new Guardian." He kept his voice low, even, and calm because he knew he had to choose his words carefully. In his younger days as a bandit he had hunted many an animal that was ready to bare its fangs and claws without a seconds hesitation if he made the wrong move, and this situation was no different.

The remaining Guardians and the Nightmare King waited with a held breath for the girl's reaction. Subconsciously preparing themselves for any sudden attack that she might make on them.

But the reaction she gave was not something they had anticipated.

The second that one sentence had left the Guardian of wonders mouth they saw the girls shoulders tense. Her body froze, halting its trembling for only a moment before its clear strain began to show again with a vengeance.

The winged girl slowly lowered her head, her dark brown bangs again falling to curtain her pale face like a veil of ringlets, concealing her features once more in the shadows. Her body quivered even harder than before, so much so that they feared the girl might be going into some kind of seizure.

Both of her hands clenched into tight fists, the one holding back the flow of blood from the gash in her abdomen digging into the already raw and bleeding flesh and causing what had to be excruciating pain to what she was already feeling, while the other hand that held her steady against the firm trunk of the lifeless tree behind her gripped the bark like an iron clamp, causing sickening cracks to fill the air as the bark splintered and broke where she was holding the tree.

They expected her to move, to attack, to scream, to do almost anything, other then what happened next.

It started out low, almost inaudible. A small, raspy chuckle that sent a racking shudder of unease and fear down everyone's spines like a blast of ice. The sickening and eerie noise grew in strength and volume 'till it echoed through the forest and bounced off the trees like some sort of sick fun-house trick that was only missing a hall of mirrors.

The winged girl threw her head back and laughed to the darkened sky in a way that even Pitch had only ever seen in horror films. Her body trembled from more than just pain and exertion now and the girl was forced to let go of her bleeding wound and latch onto the tree behind her with both hands to avoid collapsing back into the mud.

Jack, Pitch, North, Tooth, Bunny, Sandy, all of them stood stalk still as the girl continued to laugh like a maniac. She was laughing. Laughing! Normally that would be taken as a thankful sign of relief by all of them, but right now they all were quickly discerning that somehow this was about to go from a frying pan into a freaking volcano.

And this theory was all but proven when the laughing suddenly ceased.

"You know nothing..." Her voice lowly hissed.

Her face, that had been looking up toward the blackened night sky, slowly lowered and her green eyes locked onto the group. Her features that had been momentarily relaxed tensed as her eyes narrowed into dangerous slits that made them each feel like the air around them was being set on fire despite the coldness of her fury and hate. Her lips pulled back into a snarl, like a rabid wolf that had lost its fangs.

No one had any idea how it was possible for her to have looked any angrier than before North had spoken. But she was. Malice, hate, pain, fury, rage, any negative emotion and every word to describe it was etched into her eyes that looked like something that might have been best described in Dante's Inferno.

"You know NOTHING!" She screeched. Everyone winced back at the harshness of her voice. Bunny actually had to press his ears back against his head to block out the high scream that his sensitive hearing immediately protested against with a loud ringing sound.

The girl seethed in rage, her hands, placed firmly on the tree behind her to keep her from collapsing, were gripping the hard bark so tightly that it began to crack and fracture beneath her fingertips like weak clay.

She wasn't supposed to do this. She was just supposed to get them out! She wasn't allowed to succumb to her emotions or she might lose control and the world of memories could be harmed and her mistress would be in even worse pain th than she already was. She couldn't do this, she couldn't tell them! Both she and her mistress knew that nothing could be done, deep down she knew it wasn't their fault, but still , they should have known!They should have seen! That God-forsaken Man in the Moon should have done something, ANYTHING! But he just- NO!

She had to stop, she had to stop!

But after everything she had seen, after everything she had been forced to watch, and after 300 years of protecting her mistress in the only way she could, having to hold back and straining to remain strong for her…

The Guardian of wonder's words finally made her snap.

"Three hundred years…" She hissed. She couldn't stop. She wouldn't stop. No matter how much it hurt, no matter what she knew she wasn't supposed to do. She was dying. This world was dying. The rules no longer mattered anymore.

Because if her master was truly going to fade away. If she was going to die without a soul by her side, with no one even knowing… They would know now.

"For three hundred years, three hundred fucking years of hell and isolation she has suffered alone!" She screamed. "Crying and screaming in sheer agony as dreams taunted and tortured her and every damn day a little piece of herself died in the cold from hoping, from believing that someday, someday all of her pain would disappear and someone, ANYONE would actually look at her! And none of you did a damn thing to help her!"

How many times had it been that both the Guardians and Boogeyman had been frozen in place like this? Truth be told they had all lost count. They stood like marble statues as if they didn't have even an ounce of control over themselves. Confusion, shock, fear, sadness, all of these things coursed through the Guardians as the girl's words hit them like a barrage of hot spikes. Her every syllable stabbing into them like an invisible blade coated in poison. Jack most of all.

Him. She was exactly like him.

He didn't know just how wrong he was. But soon enough he would, along with all of the others, the 300 years this girl has lived through, were something none of them would have ever even begun to imagine.

The hate and pain laced into the girls words were bad enough as they were. But she was far from being over now. And if they thought it hurt before to have her screaming at them like this, what she said next was almost enough to bring them to their knees.

Without a seconds hesitation the girl looked to Sandy, unfreezing him and making him take a step back in fear that even Pitch wasn't happy about. "You! Where were you when she had to wake up crying from every Goddamn dream she ever fucking had that tortured her with things she knew deep down she would NEVER be able to have?!"

Sandy felt his heart break even more than when she had first directed her rage towards him. The very idea of someone waking up crying and in pain because of a dream, a dream he made, made him fill with dread and doubts as he tried to understand how that was even possible.

The ground beneath them started to tremble like a small earthquake and again the wind began to rise up speed and strength around them, grabbing and flinging small twigs and rocks. But they were all to focused on the girls words to notice the world around them.

Tooth joined Sandy when the girl's piercing eyes locked on her, memories of the people from her village who wanted her dead as a child came rushing back to her in a tidal wave as her girls cowered behind their queen. "Where were you when she tried to remember something, anything from her life before this hell that could give her any explanation as to what she did to deserve this?!"

The wind grew in ferocity with every accusing word that left the girls lips, and picked up the large branches on the ground before throwing them harshly into shaking trees with echoing crashes and snaps that were drowned out by the howling winds.

"Where were you, over the years as little by little the light of joy and wonder faded from her eyes?!" She shrieked at the Russian Guardian with a voice that was like rusty nails being dragged down a chalk board.

"And where were you when her hopes and prayers were burnt to the ground every day of her life when the sun set and she knew she had gone another day completely alone but still hoping that maybe, just maybe, tomorrow would be the day! The day that somebody actually gave a damn about whether or not she lived or died!"

The Easter Guardian felt a cold shudder go up his spine while her words acted as the equivalent of a dagger pierced into his stomach before ripping its way through his chest and slicing his heart that was trying to rip its way out of his ribcage.

The wind was now what could easily be called a cyclone, hurricane force gales whipped through the air like invisible blades that cut through rocks and uprooted trees like they were nothing more than pebbles and twigs. Dust, snow and dirt were thrown into the air till the entire sky was concealed behind a cloud of debris that blocked the radiant light of the moon and stars.

The wind swirled around them like a cage and trapped them within the clearing at the eye of the storm that exploded out in chaos with what the girl said next.

"And YOU!" Fury filled green eyes met electric blue ones as she turned on Jack. The venom in her words potent as a viper and filled with more aggression, and more disdain than anything the winter spirit had ever heard before.

"For three hundred years she stood by your side! For three hundred years, she tried to help you in whatever little ways she could! For three hundred years she asked for nothing in return except for a fucking NAME! She gave up on herself! She didn't matter just as long as YOU were OK!" Her enraged screams echoed throughout his mind and drowned out the sounds of the howling storm and the sound of his own heart beating.

Because this didn't make sense! None of it! None of what he was feeling or anything that she was saying! He had been by himself all of that time! He knew he had! He knew because he would have given anything to have had someone with him!

He was alone... he always had been…

Hadn't he?

Doubts joined the screeching echoes in his head that whispered things he didn't understand as the memories of isolation rushed back to him along with the memories of the pain and discomfort he had been feeling since the moment the Guardians had won and they left the frozen lake.

He tried to remember, he tried to understand and make sense of everything that was going on but everything was just a blank.

"She didn't care if the moon ever spoke to her even ONCE! She stopped wishing for herself long ago and do you know why?! Because just as long as you found happiness she didn't care what happened to her!" Without warning or hesitation the girl let go of the tree that had been holding her upright, standing straight up despite the severity of her wounds and the blood that was still oozing from her abdomen that sent pain racking through her body.

"You people call yourselves the Guardians of childhood! HA! You have no right to claim that title because you couldn't protect even one little girl! She was the one protecting you!" She raised a trembling hand to point accusingly at the Guardians who shrank back.

"But not once, not for one single damn second did she ever blame any of you! It was her that had the problem! She was the one who had done something wrong! She believed it wasn't your fault when anyone else would have wanted to see you dead!" With her last word she raised her hand with an open fist toward the hidden night sky, the raging wind around them changing jut slightly as many of the gales began to coil around her hand and arm like a serpent of living air.

Every last one of them had enough sense to start backing away when this happened, every ounce of nerve and instinct any of them had realizing that this was about to go horribly wrong.

"For three hundred years I've had to sit back and watch as she cried alone without a family, without a friend, without even having one single fucking conversation with a living thing in all her life!"

Her eyes flashed with an unnatural white light that blinded them momentarily as the symphony of the howling storm reached its climax. But despite the deafening music of the roaring winds the last words the girl spoke reached all of their ears as clearly as a silver bell.

"And I am SICK OF IT!"

With the last note in the melody of rage and hate she brought down her hand like the blade of a guillotine. And the world went black.

The blast from the cyclones directed at them slammed into all of them with the force of train and sent then flying into the air. The air in their lungs was ripped out of their bodies from the hit as they were simultaneously thrown and pinned to the ground by invisible hands of wind that held them still in the cold snow as the debris of rocks and trees flew over them but somehow never touched them.

However, that was only the case for five out of the six members of group.

In the typhoon of chaos and confusion that surrounded them, none of the original Guardians nor the Nightmare King were able to realize that one of them was experiencing something even worse than just having their bodies held to the ground and their ability to breathe being denied and returned to them repeatedly as the hands of a phantom grabbed at their throats.

Jack had not even a second to realize what was happening to him before a blast of air was sent into his chest like a fist sized bullet while his staff was ripped from his vice like grip and thrown into the whirlwind before he could even have the chance to blink.

His body was slammed into the ground with a thud that shook the ground and sent pain through his body like a bolt of electricity. His eyes closed tightly and he gasped against the throbbing agony that he had only felt when he had those few violent encounters with a group of summer spirits every couple of decades or so.

But the pain only intensified from there as he felt a new, crushing like pressure on top of his chest that made his lungs scream out for air and his ribs feel like they were going to shatter. His eyes shot open at the sudden weight on top of him that exponentially added to the pulsing agony that was worming its way through his body.

What he saw made him wish he had never opened his eyes.

He stared up at a pale face that was contorted into a look of pure hate and anger that caused him to become completely unaware of everything going on around him, other then her. The winged girl balanced herself on top of him, one leg crushing his chest while the other pressed into his collar bone that would no doubt snap in two if she pushed down any harder on it, pinning him to the ground.

One hand was held securely on his thin neck just lightly enough so that he could still at least partially breath while the other-

Jack felt his already wide eyes somehow wide even more as he saw the gleam of a silver dagger that she gripped tightly in her other hand.

The wind around him howled like a ravaging beast and drowned out the calls from his friends, only growing more and more fierce with every passing second as he felt her knees pressed down into his chest and crushed his lungs like a vice. He stared up at the girl's cold, venomous eyes that pierced into him like the steel blade in her hand would be doing in mere seconds. He wanted to look away, to fight back, to do anything to try to stop this but her eyes had him petrified and he couldn't bring his gaze to look anywhere but hers.

The girl slowly lowered her head until icy blue and forest green eyes that Jack was just now noticing were far more than just green, were only inches away from one another. A shudder racked his body and his already cold blood froze as his breath caught in his throat when she brought her lips down to his ear and her warm breath trailed down his neck.

"I am going to make sure she will never cry for you, ever again."

She pulled back and glared into him with murderous rage as she gripped his neck and raised her dagger high above her head, its needle thin tip shining in the reflection of the dull moonlight above was the last thing he saw before he closed his eyes as tightly as they could go. Preparing himself for what he knew was about to be excruciating pain as she brought the dagger down and he waited in terror for the agony to finally come.

…..But the pain never came.

One… two… three...

More than ten seconds he waited, his fear rising with every tick of time's silent clock as he thought it was the end. And it was at the fifteen second mark that he actually felt something. But what he felt was not the agonizing pain that he had expected.

A single drop of something hot and wet hit his cheek just below his eye and he flinched.

It took more than ten full seconds before Jack was able to force his eyes open again. And for more reasons than he couldn't even count, he felt his heart shatter.

A look of utter shock, horror and pain filed green eyes that stared down at him with confusion and anger. Tears streamed down her pail face and trickled down onto his in small hot droplets as her hand that held the dagger above him trembled and strained against an unseen force that looked like it was holding her back from plunging the blade into his heart.

Her breath became ragged as her expression flashed between malice and despair and back again while her hand loosened and tightened on his neck repeatedly.

Jack shrank away as her ear piercing scream filled the air over the sounds of the hurricane like winds. The winged girl raised her dagger back more and brought it back down but stopped when the tip was only inches away from piercing his skin. She screamed in frustration and tried again and again to send her blade into his body and be done with it but every time her hand would freeze before the gleaming sharp metal could touch him and more tears continued to flow from her eyes.

"No… no it isn't possible!" She screeched. Nether noticed that after her first failed strike the wind around them had instantly began to dissipate.

"Why?...WHY?!" She tried once more to finish the winter spirit off once and for all, but again she failed. Her knife not even reaching a foot above him before it froze again in midair.

The wind had now subsided and the other Guardians and the Nightmare King had been freed from their invisible binds that held them to the forest floor. The moment they had seen the girl with the blade in her hand and about to dive it into Jack they all rushed forward to stop her. Though Pitch would deny it vehemently later and for the rest of eternity to come, even his body moved forward along with the Guardians for a reason he could not discern.

He should have been happy to watch that girl end the life of that frosted little ice brat. Hell, he should have been the one who wanted to end the kid. But something in him apparently thought otherwise.

They rushed forward to stop her but found themselves freezing in their tracks when she suddenly screamed and they saw the fall of her knife halt in midair before it could get so much as three inches away from touching Jack.

The winter teen stared up at the girl in shock and horror. Not at all certain about what he should be doing or feeling aside from the overwhelming relief that he didn't currently have a knife sticking out of his chest. But he wasn't even able to truly feel that relief as he looked up into glassy, tear filled eyes that showed him his own reflection of fear and confusion.

He was only aware of the girl looking down at him in a mix of hate and despair. The fact that the cyclone of wind around him had seceded and that his friends and the man he should have considered his enemy were up and watching the scene with eyes as wide and confused as his own.

And he was only mildly aware of the fact the winged girl's hand had dropped the silver dagger to the ground next to him, her hand falling limp at her side and her grip on his windpipe slowly loosening.

"…D-do…"

Her cracking voice was strained and raspy. Hardly a whisper but was somehow clear as day for everyone in the now deathly silent clearing.

Though only Jack could clearly see her face everyone present watched in rising shock and astonishment as the rage and hate that had been present in the girl's eyes from the moment they had first seen her slowly fell away. Her tears continuing to fall steadily as the emotions of disdain and malice were replaced with a look that could only be described as… tired.

Her head lowered with her shoulders till a vale of tight brown ringlets concealed her face like a mask. Her hand released it's already light hold around his neck and retracted back till she was loosely holding onto the front of his hoodie and pushing down just slightly as if to balance herself upright.

"…Do you truly love him… that much?" She asked shakily. Her eyes were unfocused and though she was staring directly into Jack's, it was like she was looking at nothing at all.

A single tear was the last to fall as she spoke. Jack couldn't even bring himself to blink as the silent tear fell onto his cheek and rolled down the side of his face and into the cold snow beneath him.

'Love him?' Who is she talking about? There's no way she could mean… me… Is there?

His thoughts were rapid and cluttered, so little of them making any sense aside from that one little question that passed through his mind and left behind an echo in its wake.

However, the immortal teenager was ripped away from his scattered thoughts when the weight that had been crushing into his chest finally fall away and air rushed into his lungs. He didn't truly need to breath; he never had as a spirit. But he still did and when the ability had suddenly been denied to him his body had immediately protested and screamed out in agony as if he truly did need air. But even now that the sensation of fire had left his lungs he still couldn't bring himself to feel any relief.

Everyone aside from Jack quickly flinched away and stepped back as the girl shakily rose to her feet and off of the winter spirit in preparation for another sudden attack. But all of them gaped when the girl did not come rushing toward them with the intent to kill.

But instead, turned her back to them and began walking back into the shadows of the forest trees.

Shock, relief, confusion, and disbelief filled them all to varying degrees when the girl began to walk away, but none more so then the tooth fairy.

Toothiana stared at the retreating girl with horror filled eyes that questioned and disbelieved everything she was seeing. This wasn't possible! She couldn't just leave like this! She couldn't just leave like this! Psyches held no emotion other than hate and anger for anyone who trespassed into their homes! They killed intruders without a seconds hesitation to protect their master's memories and they never showed mercy! But she was letting them go?! That just wasn't possible!

The fairy queen wanted to be relieved, truly she did, but everything about this situation was screaming at her that this was wrong in every conceivable way. The girl had been crying. Crying! That in and of itself should have been impossible.

The tears of pain and agony that had been falling from her eyes when she had been lying unconscious and bleeding on the ground was one thing, she shares a physical connection with her mistress and if she was in enough pain to actually be crying than the pain her mistress is in must be absolutely excruciating.

But tears of sorrow?!

Psyches didn't have the ability to feel anything other than anger and the desire to protect and kill to do so. Things like happiness and sadness weren't possible for them, so how on earth could she be crying?! None of this made any sense. It went against the very laws of nature and physics and Tooth and her mini-fairies felt their heads swim, each of them tried desperately to discern how this could possibly be happening.

As the feelings of distress and anxiousness rose in the fairy queen and her daughters, so too did they in the Guardian of fun who was still lying flat on his back on the hard ground as he tried to understand what had just happened.

Without even thinking, his body began to move on its own. He slowly and carefully moved to stand from the hard ground; his legs trembled and nearly sent him back down to his knees but somehow managed to support him despite the shock and pain that was still coursing through his system. His hand absentmindedly reached out for his staff before he realized that it had been ripped away from him in the storm.

A small part of him began to panic at this sudden realization but it wasn't enough to snap him out of his foggy daze. Not for a single second did his eyes leave the retreating girl as he stood. Questions and thoughts he couldn't even understand let alone answer flashed through his mind like lightning as he stared at her, dumbfounded by what had just happened.

A minor pain pulsated through his chest and up his shoulder but he was only vaguely aware of this fact, his mind too focused on the girl right now to be able to really register the dull pain he was feeling. He watched with the others in confusion and disbelief as the girl slowly limped away from them and back into the darkened forest.

None of them understood what was happening. How could she just leave after all of that without saying a word? Confusion and skepticism rose in each of them but none of them could find the voice to speak it.

Except for Jack.

The questions in his head chimed and echoed like loud bells that refused to shut up! His emotions kept changing from anger to relief to sadness and back again as she walked away. And it wasn't just because the girl had just nearly run him through with a freaking blade! He didn't know why, he didn't know how, but some part of his mind wanted to stop her. A small piece of him that was clearly ether an idiot or one hell of a masochist screamed at him to stop her, that he didn't want to see her go!

His conflicting thoughts and emotions waged war in his head while his body remained frozen in place. But somehow one of the more neutral sides in the war suddenly decided to take over. His whole mind was not truly in control of his body at this time, so without even realizing it his mouth opened to voice his thoughts and confusion in a moment of ether unknowing naiveté or bravery.

"Y-you're not going to-"

"Don't misread my intentions here Frost!" She cut him off harshly, pausing in her movements to speak just at the edge of the shadowed tree line. "I would like nothing more than to see your head on a stake! But...she..."

She hesitated but really, what was the point of holding back now? "You're the only thing that keeps her alive."

Everyone felt their eyes widen at this remark, and once again Jack felt himself freeze. The winged girl leaned to the side just slightly, reaching out with a shaky hand to take hold of a sturdy tree to steadt herself like before, her other hand reaching back across her abdomen to feel the deep gash in her stomach that was still bleeding lightly.

"Without you, her heart wouldn't be able to survive. If she lost you… She'd lose the only reason she has to keep living."

Before anyone could even manage to processes what she had just said she moved again, causing yet another wave of deafening silence to fall over the clearing. She removed her hand from her bleeding wound, leaning her side on the tree for better support as the shaking in her legs seemed to slightly intensify, reaching out to the side with a pointed finger into the dark forest. "Go." She said.

"Follow the moon's light and you'll see what you need to know. It doesn't matter anymore…" Her hand fell limp to the side as the others quickly glanced to the direction she had just been pointing, Baby Tooth instantly recognizing what she was referring to but remaining silent.

"W-what? What do you mean it doesn't matter?" Again not thinking about his actions, and truly not really caring at this point, Jack took a step forward. Everyone behind him collectively held their breath but the girl made no move to attack again.

Everyone felt lost when they suddenly saw the girls shoulders sink and her head lower just slightly more than it already was. Everyone but Tooth that is. But if she were to be honest with herself she wished she could be just as lost as the others were right now. Because she knew exactly what she meant.

And just like that everything clicked into place. This is why she was letting them go.

"This world is dying..."

Her words were clear and hard. Not a single sign of doubt in her voice as she spoke. There wasn't any reason to doubt. There wasn't any reason to hope. This was the end, there was no point in trying to deny the inevitable, the others still didn't know how to respond.

"Everything that exists here is dying. Along with her… And soon it will all disappear. Both this world and I will die with her… But…"

The others waited for a moment to let her continue, none of them had any intention of stopping her. The winged girl stayed silent for a time before her head rose just slightly, as if deciding on something she had been contemplating for a very long while. "Maybe it's better that way. She won't have to suffer any more. She won't have to… to cry... anymore."

Those words had an impact on everyone there. Because in that moment, everything became clear to all of them. But Bunny took the hardest hit of all.

He didn't know how he had not felt it until now. It was like a sudden tidal wave that crashed into him without a seconds warning and then threw him back against a rocky shore. He felt his heart pounding in his chest like a bird trying to burst out of its cage and every muscle in his body tightened painfully while his breath caught in his throat and choked him.

Hopelessness. He would recognize that feeling anywhere. It was what he had seen in her eyes for those few brief seconds when her mask of hate and rage had begun to crack. And now it was the only thing he could feel from her.

There was no hope on her. It had all died along with any belief that her mistress, or herself would somehow manage to live. She had given up.

These and very similar thoughts passed through everyone's minds, and for a moment afterword none of them had even managed to register that the girl was speaking again.

"…Do you know what the worst part is?" She asked. No one moved to answer.

"It's that after three hundred years of hoping… of wishing, believing that someday, if she was good enough, you'd suddenly be able to look up and see her by your side. But… the day you finally see her. The day you finally know the truth… is the day she's going to die…"

No one had any proof. No one would say anything. No one would even bother to ask. Because somehow, each and every one of them knew she was talking to Jack.

"…Jack?"

The winter teen startled slightly, going stiff as his mind drew a blank. This was the first time she had ever said his name without hate laced in her voice. And she sounded almost… kind.

"…C-could you… could you do just one thing?" She asked hesitantly.

"...Please?"

Shock and confusion still filled the air, but with her words the fear and tense anxiety that had surrounded them like a fog till now began to dissipate. After everything they had seen and heard from this girl, none of them had even thought she could act like this.

"W-what is it?" His voice caught from his nerves. But cut off all together as the girl turned around to face them one final time.

The anger, the hate, the fury. Everything that she had been only moments before had vanished from her eyes. Her mask had finally fallen away, leaving only sorrow, pain, and regret behind to fill the empty void, a stream of tears trickling down her face and into the white show below her.

Electric blue eyes stared into green. A pleading look conveying things he hadn't thought he would see from her.

"Please." She said. "Before she… before she has to go… please. Please just… just give her a name…"

And before the others were so much as given a chance to blink, the winged girl had vanished into the shadows of a memory.


	9. What is She to You?

You'll Never Know

What is She to You?

"Please." She said. "Before she… before she has to go… please. Please just… just give her a name…"

And before the others were so much as given a chance to blink, the winged girl had vanished into the shadows of a memory.

No one could bring themselves to speak.

Truth be told, none of them actually wanted to. And even if they did, they wouldn't know what to say. Because what could they say? Nothing could describe what they had all just seen in the last... however long they had been here. There were no words.

There was only silence.

Her last words weighed down and echoed around them, the only sound that penetrated the still air being just the smallest breeze that the girl had left behind. By this time everyone had managed to lose count of just how many times they had been frozen in place like this, but that honestly didn't matter in the grand scheme of things now did it?

Time itself seemed to have frozen to a complete stop at multiple intervals of their encounter with the Psyche, but now the ice had slowly begun to melt and the ticking hands of the clocks face had once again began to slowly inch forward gain.

A gently breeze that gave no indication that they had just been in the center of a raging typhoon only minutes ago blew lazily through the trees around them, the bare branches that still remained attached to their leafless trees shook and rattled against one another. Tapping, touching and intertwining together like the interlocking fingers of two elegant dancers. And, for the first time since the moment they had all arrived here, there were actual signs of life around them.

A small flock of birds flew overhead silently, casting large, moving shadows on the dimly lit forest floor as they flew through the moons light above. Small animals quickly made their way across the snowy ground before disappearing into the underbrush of a bush or into a small burrow beneath a tree and a small doe trotted past the side of the clearing. Not a single creature taking notice of the spirit's presence in their home.

They had come out of nowhere all of the sudden. All kinds of animals that one would expect to find an abundance of in a forest like this. It was almost as if the presence of the Psyche had been keeping them from approaching this place, but they were free to do as they pleased now that she had gone.

However the sudden return of life to this once lifeless forest was not noticed by the present spirits within the forest clearing.

None of the Guardians, nor the Boogeyman could bring themselves to move for a long while. So they simply stood there, stock-still as they tried to rationalize and understand everything that had just taken place and the information they had been presented, not the least of which was Pitch.

Each one of they may be preoccupied with their own various thoughts and seemingly endless questions that none of them could bring themselves to voice aloud, but Pitch was thinking about more than that. He hadn't missed the fact that she hadn't had anything to say to him when persecuting the Guardians and honestly, he didn't know how to feel about that. Shocked? Happy? Angered? How was it possible that someone could hate the Guardians so much and not the Boogeyman?

It could just be that he hadn't done anything to her mistress or something. He knew he'd never met the girl before, after all. That was one thing he and the Guardians had in common: They always remembered the faces of the children they effected- whither it be to scare, give hope, wonder, dreams, memories or fun. They always remembered.

This is assuming that the Psyche looks anything like her mistress, Pitch thought to himself. She could be completely different. But the Guardians didn't seem to have the slightest clue who this child could be either. How could the Guardians not know about a child like this? Again this was only under the assumption that she and her mistress shared the same appearance but still. Whether or not she was a child the Guardians were supposed to be aware of every spirit that lives on this planet.

There were just too many unanswered questions, and that was something he did not enjoy. Why was the spirit in such bad shape? How could none of them not know about her? And what was beating the hell out of the real girl while the psyche was beating the hell out of Jack Frost?

Not that I wouldn't enjoy seeing that uppity little cur get his comeuppance, Pitch thought wryly. In fact, he had enjoyed it, if only slightly. But thinking about the split-second attack brought him back to his second most-pressing question. What was beating the hell out of her in the real world? He had no idea, but with the way she was being thrashed around, the injuries and the way in which they appeared, Pitch had a feeling it was more than spirits that were breaking bones and allowing her blood to run through the snow like lava.

Each time he'd seen a blow land, he'd felt the muscles of his stomach tighten as his own wounds responded with a phantom-like pain that didn't physically hurt, but it brought back the memories of feeling the pain, and out of everything, that was what Pitch found the most concerning.

Bunnymund was in a very similar position, he stared off into the shadows as his mind raced and then slowed to a sluggish crawl before spiking back in speed once more. Though his thoughts were centered on something slightly different then the savage beating that had left the Sheila in a bloody mess on the cold ground. No, his thoughts were solely focused around the immense hopelessness he'd seen in the girl seconds before she left.

And though he wanted to be angry, he wanted to be bloody furious, honestly, he didn't know what to feel.

The Sheila had tried to kill Jacky, sure, but… when she had really let loose her fury on them he'd known that truer words had never been spoken. The raw, painful emotions in her eyes had slammed into him like a fist to the gut. Almost as strong as the blast of wind that had sent him flying back and into the ground with the others. And he hadn't even felt anything from her, he didn't need to. All he needed was to see the look in her eyes, and the emotion was as clear as day.

But even worse was the realization that he, as a Guardian… had failed.

Hell, all of us have failed. He thought, staring off into space as the girl vanished into the shadows of the trees. To even allow something- someone, like this to exist... it's the definition of failing.

He could not deny that. Nor could he deny that the things she had said to them were like a dagger piercing his heart. Because that was what it was! Hearing her words, her harsh accusations, Bunny could not even bring himself to feel sorry for himself or the others because… Because somehow he knew, he knew they deserved it. All he could bring himself to do was think of the helpless and mournful expression she had given them before she left, and the pain and sorrow he had seen so clearly in her eyes behind her mask of violent rage.

Her looks of disdain and anger hadn't even registering with him when she had first said them, but now they were the only things he could see as her words played over and over again in his head like a broken record:

"Where were you when her hopes and prayers were burnt to the ground every day of her life?" He didn't know. "When the sun set and she knew she had gone another day completely alone but still hoping that maybe, just maybe, tomorrow would be the day!" He couldn't remember. "The day that somebody actually gave a damn about whether or not she lived or died!" Maybe that day had never come.

Her words echoed hauntingly through his mind and sent feelings of guilt and regret through his body like little electric shocks. He hadn't known what she was talking about. He didn't know who she was. He didn't know if he knew her mistress. He didn't know anything. But in her words, words that were laced with nothing but pain and anger and sadness, there was something else that made him feel like his heart was about to give out and shatter like glass.

There was sincerity, and there was truth.

Her words had not a second of hesitation in them. No doubt, no remorse, every word held nothing in them but conviction and truth. Bunny did not know this girl. None of the Guardians did. But somehow they all knew they had failed her.

Half of his mind tried to reason with him, telling him that he shouldn't be feeling like this, because he didn't know the Sheila, because he had never met her, because she had attacked them! Why should he feel sad or guilty after that?

But the other half of his mind, the half that was in control, couldn't help but feel the sinking guilt of knowing that he had failed a child like that. He didn't know how, but he had failed this girl. The look of utter hopelessness and pain in her eyes sent a shudder down his spine that even the frigid winds of the North Pole's frozen tundra couldn't have.

He tried not to feel the guilt, but he was only trying to fool himself. Sure, she had attacked them, but from her point of view she was justified in her attack. It didn't matter that she had nearly killed him. Because deep down, he knew he deserved it, for many different things. For not knowing the girl. For not helping her. For not teaching her how to hope. For leaving her alone.

I- we, deserve every bit o' her hate. Not just form her, but from Jacky too.

Because not only had her words cut deep into the Guardian of hope, but it had also opened his eyes to something completely separate.

He now realized just how much he and the others had hurt Jack by leaving him alone for so long. The look of utter hopelessness and pain in the girl's eyes was just like the look in Jack's eyes when he had appeared at the Burgess Easter Egg Hunt. The betrayal too. No one should ever have that look in their eyes: the look said that they were done. Just done. That there was nothing left to fight for, that there was no point in believing. No one should ever have that look, and especially not a child.

First the girl, then Jack. It was nauseating! He should have done something, anything! He was the Guardian of hope, dammit! But he couldn't even help a child who was standing right in front of him!

Alone, scared, hurt, all of these words passed through his mind time and time again as he thought about just what had happened, and the guilt that had begun to pool in the pit of his stomach increased tenfold as he realized one thing.

All of the Guardians, Bunny epically, felt sinking guilt over everything that had happened with Jack. Not just because they had thought he had betrayed them, but because they had failed him. For 300 years they failed him. And now they had failed again. They had failed a child.

How could they call themselves Guardians if they couldn't even protect one of their own?

Sandy was in the same state as the Easter Bunny. Guilt and doubt clawed at his heart and mind like razor-sharp talons as he thought about what the girl had said to him. His dreams had actually hurt someone? How? How was that even possible?!

Sandy had spent his entire life trying to bring peace and happiness to people through their dreams, to take away their stress and pain that plagued them during the day and help them in whatever way he could. And now he was suddenly learning that no, his powers didn't work for someone?!

It was like his entire world was falling down around his ears. Dreams helped you believe in yourself. They helped you see past the harshness of reality and imagine that you could be anything you wanted to be, and they kept the spark of creativity alive in the young children, both while dreaming and awake. That was why he did it. Dreams were essentially his way of granting wishes now.

Long ago, before he had come to Earth, Sandy had been what humans referred to now as a shooting star. He would fly high above the clouds in the night sky, granting the wishes of children who saw him. It was his job, his life, it was everything he was.

Until one day- through an insane and unforeseen series of circumstances, he had crashed to earth and was made a Guardian by the Man in the Moon, the last child who's wish he had ever granted. He never forgot a wish someone had made, but that was a wish that would stay close to his heart till the end of time.

That sweet, innocent wish that had been completely selfless and kind that the young Tsar Lunar made when he was just a little boy; 'I wish you well.' It had saved his life on more than one occasion, when he had first crashed down to Earth after a battle with Pitch, long before he had ever met the other Guardians, and long after.

When he crashed to Earth the Man in the Moon had deemed him to be a Guardian, and so in his new role he began spreading his star dust, which had now become known as dreamsand, throughout the world to bring sweet dreams to children every night as they slept. It was actually his way of still granting wishes even though he was no longer just a mere star. Every wish begins with a dream after all.

Dreams were many things, they were able to do many things, but they should never hurt people. Yes he had used his dreamsand to send Pitch flying into a wall but that was a whole different story.

But what had him hung up the most was what he saw when she looked at him, when she said those things to him. All of them had been able to see the anger as clear as day, along with other things that made their hearts break. But he saw something he never, ever thought he would see.

He saw fear.

It was small, and hidden, something that most people would have never been able to notice, but it was there. Her words had made that clear.

"Where were you when she had to wake up crying from every dream she ever had that tortured her with things she knew, deep down that she would NEVER be able to have?!"

It wasn't the kind of fear that was truly prominent or even expressed in any way. It wasn't something that she may not have actually been feeling, but something she had felt before, leaving behind an imprint in her heart that would always remain whenever she was faced with that fear.

She had been afraid. She had been afraid of him. No child had ever looked at him like that before, not once! He wasn't something people were supposed to fear, he was the one who fought fear!

Wasn't he?

And for a brief moment a thought that had never occurred to him passed through his head as his gaze traveled to an unaware Nightmare King.

How much does it hurt, he wondered. When that's the only way people look at you?

Fast thoughts and actions were a natural occurrence for Toothiana. So too were high levels of energy and enthusiasm that was more than necessary to keep herself going with her work nearly 24/7. She was able to see every single lost tooth that every child around the world lost when they lost it, feelings and images filled her heart and mind of where that little treasure of childhood could be found.

And from those visions she would instruct her mini-selves on where they had to go to collect them. She had more than a thousand fairies that helped to collect the teeth, and she had to be able to speak with them each separately at the drop of the hat when they needed their next job. It was part of her job, part of who she was, and who she had become over the years.

But not originally.

When she had first met the other Guardians, hundreds of years ago, she had been cold and distant. The memory of her parent's death was fresh in her mind along with the visions of the cruelty of the adults who had killed them and then locked her in a cage, it was little wonder she had curled in on herself and become like a shell like she had. She hadn't let anyone in or tried to let them understand, and for one simple reason: She hadn't trusted them. And really, was anyone in a position to blame her?

She didn't know what had happened to her over the years, but something had. Something magical, and something wondrous. Because only after a few meager decades, she was able to be coaxed out of her shell of despair and misery by her comrades and had even begun to open up to them. She had learned that all of them has lost someone at one time in their lives, and because of this shared bond between then she was able to change.

What had happened with her parents was something that would never be able to leave her, but she wouldn't want it to. Because she knew that they were never truly gone. A little piece of them would always be with her.

And because she also knew that it was the sad memories in life that made you stronger.

Over the centuries she had gotten closer with the other Guardians, to the point where she saw them as a second family. A family that had grown now that Jack had joined them. And so eventually the strictly fierce warrior queen she was began to fade away. She became happier, more open, and hyper even. She wouldn't deny that. She was glad she had changed.

But right now, it was taking everything she had not to lose it.

Anger, confusion, and sadness began to build within her till she felt exactly like she had all those years ago before she had ever met the other Guardians. The inner powers of her warrior queen persona were fighting to break lose with ferocity that rivaled the most vicious beasts and she was only just able to force it back down, but the emotions continued to build, stabbing at her heart like a poison-tipped blade that made her want to scream.

For thousands of years she had known about the world of memories. Both it, and the people who guarded it. She had said that it was not her job to go into other people's memories, and that it was not her right. But she didn't say she had never done it before.

It had happened only once, a very long time ago when she had just started collecting children's teeth. Back then she still did not know the full extent of her powers, nor did she know about the rules of a memory.

It had been an accident really. She had used too much of her energy into sealing the memories of a child's tooth actually into the tooth. She had not yet created the individual teeth containers for children like she had now and so that was the only way to insure that the memories remained intact and protected within the baby teeth.

Her overuse of energy accidentally triggered some sort of opening into the world of the child's memories that she fell through, not unlike Alice down the rabbit hole. The next thing she knew she had woken up in an old village surrounded by sand to the East and dense jungle to the west. There had been no signs of any life when she had arrived there, animal, human or otherwise.

That is until she ran into the little boy who's teeth she had just been about to collect. Or at least, what she had thought was the boy.

She remembered what happened in fragmented pieces. Some clear and in explicit detail, while others were dull and gray, hidden behind a thick fog. She could remember the child, and then she remembered the fight.

For the longest time the boy just looked at her, giving her a look that a normal child should never have to wear in any circumstances. His glare pierced into her with anger and disdain, muck like the look of the people in her own village had looked at her when they had trapped her in that torchlight cage and killed her parents.

And yet, it wasn't the kind of look she had seen on the faces of the adults in her old home that wanted to use her powers for personal gain. It wasn't cruel, or calculating or even- to an extent –malignant. He hadn't looked at her like a freak of nature or a demon. He'd looked at her as if she was simply an intruder. It was more feral, more animalistic.

More deadly.

Out of nowhere the child suddenly attacked her with the ferocity of a rabid beast. Strange powers and impossible strength and speed fueled his attacks and she had no way of trying to stop him or defend herself. He swords were little more than children's toys though she only used them to parry his blows. Despite how he fought, and the look in his eyes that showed his clear desire to sever her head from her shoulders, she couldn't bring herself to even try and attack him. Despite everything he was still just a little boy.

Though any attacks she could have thrown would have been less than useless.

Toothiana has sustained multiple minor injuries in the fight and would have no doubt been killed if it hadn't been for her quick birdlike reflexes. But as the battle continued her movements began to feel sluggish from exhaustion, and the air itself felt heavy on her shoulders as if it were trying to restrain her.

The young boy lunged and slashed savagely at her with raging eyes of fury, repeatedly screaming at her to 'GET OUT!' She remembered thinking how inhumanely fast his powers were, the way he fought and then darted away. Yet, though he displayed a clear desire to have her head separated from her shoulders, she couldn't bring herself to hurt the boy.

As if she could've anyway.

She tried her hardest to keep her distance from the young child but her exhaustion slowly but surely began to hinder her actions. The only thing that had kept her alive during that ferocious fight had been her quick birdlike reflexes and stamina, but even that had begun to fade after repetitive clash upon clash with the boy. As the battle continued, her movements had begun to feel sluggish from exhaustion, and soon it felt like the very air itself which hung heavy on her shoulders was trying to restrain her.

Blow after blow she took until finally, the boy drew back his arms and sent a violent pulse of invisible energy that felt something akin to a lightning strike straight at her which threw her body to the ground, hard.

She'd been unable to move, unable to even defend herself as the boy seized his chance and struck again, his right hand open and his fingers bent like claws. Sparks of electricity danced off of his skin and fell to the ground, sending pulsating waves of charged energy rippling outward if her dim memory was to be believed. He jumped high into the air like an animal finally bearing down on its helpless pray.

"Let this remind you!" he had hissed, towering over her like a shadow of death.

The fairy queen closed her eyes in preparation for the agonizing pain of death she knew she was about to face, feeling sure that in the next instant she would be with her parents in paradise. But the blow that same was not the one she had been expecting.

With a jarring thud her body slammed into a wooden wall and sent an aching pain through her body. Despite the pain and shock she willed her eyes to open, and she stared dumbfound at where she once again found herself.

She was back in the room of the young boy whom she had been retrieving the lost tooth from before she had been suddenly thrown into a fight for her life with a beast in the form of a child.

She looked from the tooth she still clutched tightly in her palm to the little boy who was sleeping peacefully in his bed and who had somehow not heard her abrupt entrance back into his room. Nothing seemed to have changed, except her. The first thing she noticed aside from her current position was her mini-selves chirping and flitting about worriedly, all trying to speak to their queen at once and ask if she was all right and what had just happened.

Without even giving herself time to truly think she bolted from the window with the tooth and back to her palace, her fairies fallowing quickly behind her without needing any sort of explanation.

Her fairy's had tried to ask her what had happened, if she was alright and why she was acting in such a strange way, but in all honesty, she didn't have an answer. She was intrigued- was that the right word? Or had it been morbid curiosity? –by the boy she had encountered.

And so she had spent hours upon hours searching her library of ancient tombs and scrolls for some mention of what she had encountered in that boy's memories, partly in case she ever had to go up against something like that again and partly because she was fascinated by it.

The way it had moved, the strength with which it had dispatched her, and the strange powers that he had possessed that he would have no doubt used to kill her if she had not somehow been released from that world and back into her own. All of these things and more had preyed on her mind and she wanted answers.

For two days afterword Toothiana remained in her palace, sending out the precious few copies of herself that she had at the time to go and collect the lost teeth while her wounds began to heal and searching for the right scroll, tablet or paper which would give her a clue to the boy's identity.

She locked herself away in a sort of library like room that had been built long ago by the Sisters of Flight, containing ancient scrolls and tapestries that told of the world's mysteries, the ancestry of their people, and epically of the mystical flying elephant. But that was not what she was looking for.

She had spent hours and hours sifting through the ancient scrolls and tapestries that told of the world's mysteries until finally, she had found what she had been looking for. A beautiful leather scroll with intricate and meticulous designs painted onto the outside that had been hidden away behind a row of alienated tablets in the far back of the room and, though Toothiana still had yet to learn all of the world's languages as she did today, the title of scroll in her native language was as clear to her as the sound of a chiming bell.

निषिद्धयादें

Forbidden Memories

For over a day after she had found that scroll she had studied it, reading it over and over repeatedly until each and every word had been embedded into her memory, and even now she could repeat its contents word by word without a moment's hesitation or a single mistake. It was in that scroll that she learned the truth of the human mind, the truth of memories, and the truth of the Psyche.

That was how she knew that what she had just seen wasn't possible. That it wasn't supposed to happen! She knew that Psyches were unable to feel, and that they were- in every sense of the word, heartless.

They had no feelings, except one. They could not feel sadness, joy, envy, love, compassion, mercy, they couldn't feel any of the things that defined a human. They could only feel rage. And that rage was what fueled them with the strength to protect their master, though if one were to really think about it, the word 'host' would work just as well.

But that was the problem with all of this. That was what, out of everything that she could be thinking of at this time, was halting Toothiana's mind. Her thoughts, normally so fast and excited that hardly anyone but herself could truly understand them, had come to a standstill.

Because she had been crying.

The Psyche had actually been crying. But not in pain, which should've been impossible too but Tooth wasn't really caring about that. She was crying… because she had been sad.

But Psyches can't be sad! She told herself over and over again. They can't feel, they can only act! Then that's what this must be then, she thought, trying to make some sense of what her mind was telling her. It's an act, to catch us off guard. Any minute now she's going to come flying out of the trees and-

Tooth felt her feeble explanation crumble. No. That wasn't right. She'd seen it in her eyes that that wasn't right.

It wasn't possible for a Psyche to show mercy, any more than it was for one of them to cry. It was more impossible still that one of them was feeling sadness, and it was the most impossible of all that a Psyche was letting an intruder, much less six intruders, go without killing one of them.

And yet, in spite of all these impossibilities, Tooth felt like impossible had lost its power.

Nothing seemed impossible anymore, any more than the things that she had just seen were impossible.

This was the collective thought of all the Guardians, including Pitch. That, in spite of everything that had happened and all the impossibilities they had been presented with, impossible's power had faded away some time ago.

The only thing that hadn't faded away were their emotions. Feelings of guilt, confusion, sadness, and regret all plagued their minds as the world around them turned dark and cold. The snow had lost its white sheen, the trees their waving majesty. All was dark, and dull.

Except for one.

Jack Frost alone stood with the Guardians, thinking of nothing the others thought of. In fact, he was thinking of nothing at all.

His mind was a blank; no thoughts were able to register with him as he stared off into the shadows. His eyes were unable to leave the now empty space where the winged girl had been standing only moments ago, before swiftly disappearing into the darkness. The immense feelings of confusion, stress, guilt, pain, sadness, every emotion he couldn't explain weighing on his shoulders and gripping at his throat, strangling the air in his lungs.

He couldn't think, he couldn't move. All he could do was stand in shock, and when he was finally able to think, the only words that passed through his head were the last thing that girl had said to him.

'Before she… before she has to go… please. Please just… just give her a name…'

Give her a name.

The words pounded in his ears until there was nothing for him to hear but their incessant ring, echoing through his mind like an empty cave. No other sounds were heard. Not his own breath, not his comrades, not Pitch, not the soft sounds of life that had slowly returned to the forest around them. Nothing.

Then, like someone had just ripped a pair of cotton earplugs from his ears and with no warning whatsoever, the noises began to flood back into his ears like a torrential tidal wave. He could hear the slow, ragged breath that was coming from his own lungs and the soft, barely audible breath from Tooth a few feet behind him. He could hear the almost inaudible crackle of snow as the others around him shifted their stances microscopically, and he could hear his thoughts.

It was like someone had just stepped on a land mine inside his head. To go from the blank nothingness of his former mind to the volcano-sized explosion of thoughts and sounds made him want to cry out, but it seemed he had no control over his own voice.

A name? She had asked him for a name? Did she not have one? HOW could someone not have one?!Manny gave spirits their names didn't he? But she said the moon had never spoken to her. How was that even possible?! Was she not made by MIM?

The only other spirits capable of making other spirits were Father Time and Mother Nature as he very well knew, but- no. that couldn't be right. She wasn't a seasonal! And Mother Nature never let her spirits go around for too long without at least giving them some sort of guidance, even him.

Of course her version of guidance was trying to teach me to fly, and I ended up with a broken leg and a black eye, he remembered with a slight scowl.

Still, if she was a spirit then someone must've had to show her the ropes. And what did she mean by she was the one protecting them? None of the Guardians seemed to know about her, even Pitch! But everything she said, everything she knew about all of them, was true.

She knew us, he realized. Then he felt like slamming his head against a brick wall. How is that possible when I've NEVER SEEN HER?!

It was all like a giant jigsaw puzzle, one which seemed to particularly delight in changing its shape on Jack. He didn't particularly like jigsaw puzzles, and his disliking of them was made complete by his mental comparison. And yet, somewhere, deep in the back of his mind he knew that all these questions HAD to have an answer somewhere.

"For three hundred years she stood by your side!"

I've never seen her, he pleaded with the phantom of the winged girl inside his own mind. I'm sorry!

"She tried to help you in whatever little ways she could!"

How?!

"She didn't matter just as long as YOU were OK!"

Why?! Why would someone lay down their life for me?!

"You're the only thing that keeps her alive."

Good! Good! Then, if she wants me to be happy then she can't die on me! Right? RIGHT?!

"The day you finally know the truth… is the day she's going to die…"

Truth. What was the truth? That he'd been alone this entire time, or that an unseen entity had been watching over him from afar? Someone he never had seen or spoken to? Someone he now knew he owed his life to?

None of it made any sense, no sense at all!

From the moment I woke up I had no one, he told himself. No one cared, no one cried.

Then what is this? Some traitorous part of him asked. A traitorous part which, though he hated to admit it, sounded a little bit like Pitch. What is this, this girl, to you? Nothing? Something? Why are you second-guessing yourself?

He didn't know. He didn't know anything anymore.

And none of them did. It was very true that Toothiana had a strong understanding of where exactly they were and the dangers in that fact, she had absolutely no answers for anything they had all just seen. And so the deafening silence between them all merely continued onward, each individual present to lost within their own minds to notice or really react to anything. Epically Jack.

The weight of the silence was crushing down on him like the air was suddenly made of lead while the earth began to swallow him up like quicksand and his head pounded like there was a drum between his ears.

But, thankfully for Jack, he was saved further mental torture by an unforeseen source.

The very same Boogeyman whose persona he had just been arguing with and had somehow taking the form of his freaking conscience, before the other even had the strength to move, was somehow able to wretch himself out of his own paralytic state and back to the demented reality that surrounded him.

Without so much as a backward glance at the others, he started walking through the snow in the direction the girl had indicated before she had made her abrupt departure.

Toothiana was the second to come back to reality when she was suddenly forced from her own thoughts and noticed the Boogeyman's actions. "W-wait, what are you doing?" she asked in a slightly weary voice. Her sudden words managing to bring back the others who looked at the fairy queen and then to Pitch in confusion, Jack barely managing to turn around to see the others from still being in a half dazed state of numbing shock.

Pitch, seemingly ether oblivious to her discomfort in speaking loudly or just not really giving a damn, turned around and gave her a bored look. "Isn't it obvious fairy?" He asked, raising an eyebrow and forcing his features into a condescending mask, even though in reality he was quite apprehensive himself. But someone had to take the first step in getting out of here, and as usual that someone was Pitch Black. "I'm following her."

Tooth's apprehensive look and widened eyes drew a sigh of exasperation from the Boogeyman and Pitch's mask of condescension ceased to be a mask. "Oh please," he said rolling his eyes. "Don't tell me you're scared?"

He said the word so as to bait them into retaliating with blatant abstention and there-by forcing them to follow but, to his surprise, that tactic didn't work. Because they were scared. It was clear to see in their eyes and in the way they stood. Frankly it disgusted Pitch, that these weak spirits were the ones he had lost power to, but instead of taunting them more he just sighed, steeled himself and tried a different tactic. Years of dealing with the Guardians had taught him exactly what would and would not revoke a response.

"Don't you idiots understand?" He asked them snidely, looking at each of them in turn. They responded with blank stares and he rolled his eyes, then spoke slowly, addressed them as if he were speaking to a group of five-year-olds. "We have been stuck here for only moon knows how long, enduring what could only be described as morbidly psychotic. And though I know of no way out of this insanity, there is no way in the fiery depths of hell I'm just going to sit around here with you people."

And he started off again, this time reaching the edge of the clearing where she had vanished into before turning around to give them one last look. "Besides," he said, giving then a malicious grin. "Can you truly tell me that you are not curious about this?"

And then he vanished into the shadows.

The Guardians made no move to fallow him and the original big four all shared an unsure look, before their attention was abruptly brought to their youngest member when he moved to follow the Boogeyman.

"Whoa, whoa where do ya think you're goin?!" Bunny asked in both annoyance and, though he would firmly deny it till the end of time itself, just the slightest hint of concern for his youngest teammate.

Jack paused to give the Easter Guardian an irritated look, still pissed at him from earlier. "Where the hell does it look like I'm going?" He retorted, actually unsure himself. His plan, meager as it was, was to follow Pitch and hope that whatever they came to managed to explain everything. "I'm gonna go find out just what the hell is going on and why I nearly just became a freaking Jack-kabob."

All the Guardians stared dumbfounded at the winter teen. They had never heard him cuss like that and somehow they were still shocked by it despite everything that was going on right now. At any other time Tooth would probably have scolded him, but right now she didn't have the mind to argue.

Jack just ignored the looks from the others and paused a moment to look around the small area, before finding what he was searching for. The cyclone had ripped his staff out of his hands and had sent it flying, but thank the moon it didn't go far and was sticking out of a nearby snowbank.

He carefully picked up the shepherd's crook and began to fallow after the Boogeyman into the shadows without even glancing back at his comrades who were still looking at him in shock.

After about a second's hesitation North asked, "Vell? Should ve follow dem?"

Tooth rolled her eyes. "Of course we're going to follow them," she responded, still a little shakily from earlier but she steeled herself against her nerves and began to trudge through the snow after the winter Guardian and the Boogeyman.

North followed, then Sandy. Bunny trailed along behind them, muttering. "Aw'right. Just to make sure that ratbag of a shadow doesn't start chewing on Frostbite's corpse."

Baby Tooth flitted past her mother and sisters to catch up with Jack when they started moving, landing gently on her perch on his shoulder when she reached him. Despite the irritation, confusion and other conflicting emotions he was feeling, he was able to push them back just long enough to give the mini-fairy a small smile which she returned happily.

Pitch, who was aware of the Guardians behind him, didn't look around as they walked through the dense forest and following the beams of moonlight that seemed to be leading towards where the girl had told them to go. Everyone remaining silent as they walked, the sounds of the forest around them making up for conversation.

The crunch of snow was a question to their ears, the crack of underbrush the answer. The whistling of a gentle breeze was a voice, and the soft sound of snow dropping from branches too. Each miniature sound a voice that spoke to them and them alone.

Eventually, after what felt like hours of walking through the dense forest, fallowing the beams of moonlight that seemed to be leading towards where the girl had told them to go they came to a small glade in the center of the vast forest where they could only bring themselves to stop and stare.

Bright moonbeams descended down from the starlit sky and fell to the forest clearing like a vale that glistened off the sparkling snow. The clear ice crystals that hung delicately from the branches of the bare trees sparkled like diamonds in the pale light that shown from the vast sky and the soft breeze which had spoken to them during their trek here flowed through the forest, gently brushing against the shimmering icicles that taped them against one another and creating bell like chimes that rose and fell with the blowing winds.

The darkened shadows ended where the light began and the edge of the clearing met the trees, transitioning from an ink like gray of shadows and ice to the pure white of light and snow that covered the ground like a thick blanket. Wisps of the light powder danced through the air before falling back to the earth upon a small mound of the crystal like snow that rose up from the center of the clearing.

For small moments the gentle breeze would calm and silence would once again replace the musical chimes of the sparkling ice, and the moment would look like it was frozen in time. A winter wonderland like something out of a fairy tale or a grand painting that would leave the viewer gaping in awe at the immeasurable beauty, but never would a painting be able to capture the true essence of nature's grace like this.

A painting could not capture the music of the breeze and the lulling melody of the wind or the sounds of the ice moving with it. It could not capture the smell of freshly fallen snow and cold frost in the air around them, nor the feel of the crisp snow crunching beneath their feet.

No, a painting could never capture such exquisite beauty; this was something only the forces of nature could do.

Even Bunny, the harbinger of spring who detested the cold with every fiber of his being and who enjoyed winter like an earthworm enjoys a spring shower, looked on to the graceful elegance of this place with slight awe.

The Guardians and the Nightmare King came to a halt at the edge of the shadows of the tree line, only steps away from entering into the light of the shining moon that glowed brightly above them. The Guardians would have very much liked to leave the darkness and enter into the light but for some reason they couldn't bring themselves to do it. As if something was holding them back and telling them that they should not enter this place so blindly.

"Is… Is this the place?" Toothiana asked quietly, just barely bringing her gaze away from the scene of winter in front of her and glancing at her small daughter that was still perched on Jack's shoulder.

Baby Tooth nodded her head quickly in confirmation to her queen. This was where the moonbeams had led her before.

They all glanced unsurely around the empty clearing, but despite what all of them had been expecting to at least some degree, there was nothing here but the ice and snow.

"Well this is all just lovely and everything," Pitch drawled sarcastically. "But could we please get ON with it? There's NOTHING here-"

His rant was suddenly cut off as the Tooth Fairy slapped her hand across his mouth with and hard look and a loud "Shhhh!"

Pitch started at the physical contact and, when he realized what it was, his eclipse eyes turned to narrow slits of fury. The others smirked and held back sniggers at the Boogeyman despite the serious situation, while Pitch himself contemplated whether to bite the fairy-queen, but was soon that decision as taken away from him when Tooth, seeing his anger removed her hand and pointed silently to the other side of the clearing.

Everyone, even Pitch's guards raised, though he made a mental note to get her back for that later. After the first encounter with the Psyche they were more than a little weary of her suddenly deciding to return to finish them off, and all but Tooth was slightly questioning if there was anything else in these memories that could potentially try to run them through with a steel dagger to the heart.

The crunching of the crisp snow began to grow in volume as whoever or- more likely whatever it was slowly made their way towards the moonlit clearing. With every step the tension in the air rose as they all prepared themselves for another sudden attack from an unknown enemy. Though Tooth knew that the Psyche was the only creature that lived within the confines of a memory even she felt a spike of uneasy fear as the noise continued to grow.

Within moments a figure could be seen walking from the darkness, cloaked in the forest's shadows that began to fall away with each step they took words the light of the glade beneath the shining moon. But the figure that appeared from the trees was one that not a single one of them would have in all of eternity expected to see.

All six jaws collectively dropped into the snow beneath them as the form of a tall, elegant woman that held herself with nothing short of a regal air entered their line of sight, her long ebony hair flowing down her back like obsidian water and just barely brushing the top of the snow. The stream of silken black swirled and danced with the gentle breeze like darkened storm clouds that seemed even blacker against the white background and her pail skin.

A dress of layers in every color of green imaginable that seemed to take the form of thousands of intricate leaves and vines covered her thin body and fell to the ground in a long majestic train behind her that draped across the snow, but did not disturb or diminish a single flake as she moved forward.

Beautiful and complex designs of gold were embroidered into the fine fabric that glistened in the moonlight like the sparkling icicles that hung from the trees overhead. Her beetle-black eyes remained steady and seemingly emotionless while her pale lips remained in a thin line across her long yet lovely face. The only sign of emotion coming from her being her hands that remained in clenched fists at her side as she stepped under the light of the glowing moon.

The Guardians and the Nightmare King all stared in stunned shock at the woman, and Jack was the only one who could bring himself to speak in the presence of the woman he had last seen over a century ago.

"Mother Nature…"


End file.
